


Espers in Izuku's world

by linkjames24



Category: Toaru Majutsu no Index | A Certain Magical Index, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-07
Updated: 2019-03-15
Packaged: 2019-11-13 14:35:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 30,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18033548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/linkjames24/pseuds/linkjames24
Summary: Touma and Othinus found themselves stranded in a new world. And it just got stranger. It was filled with people dressed up in spandex, self-proclaimed heroes fighting crime. Meanwhile, Izuku had to navigate around a new school life with his new and strange classmates. Join the ride as the world of espers, magicians and quirk users collide.





	1. Chapter 1

They were in a different world, Touma concluded, and sighed for the fifth time that day. ‘They’ referred to himself and his companion, a certain magical magic god. Okay, that felt a little redundant. Still, his companion didn’t seem to care.

His companion was called Othinus. She had gold-like blonde hair, almost shining with the light of the sun, moonlight white skin, a beautiful face and an attractive body. She wore a witch hat, and something resembling straps that left little to the imagination. She looked at him with her left catlike green eye, her right covered by an eye-patch, from where she sat on her lance, Gungnir.

Yes, he didn’t manage to break Gungnir. Surprise, surprise, when he thought she used it as a weapon flying towards him, he was actually seeing an illusion constructed by her magic and was torn apart by another arrow. He got bisected in half, his midriff down separated from the rest of his body, and felt the cold hands of death reaching him.

Or was it Othinus? She apparently brought him back to life. She was known as a god of death in her other identity as Odin, a mighty Aesir and the ruler of Asgard. And he’s witnessed the miracle that is her overwhelming power head on.

Level 5’s don’t stand a chance against this god, he lamented.

“Human,” Othinus said. “Why are you limiting yourself to your eyes?” She blushed and looked away. “I don’t mind if you get a little frisky.”

They were in the streets of Akihabara. A maid cafe was behind them, girls in animal theme serving as maids, and the electronic town was before them, with robots in the sidewalk giving papers and advertising what their stores were selling. Don Quijote was available just a block away. He was tempted to go Gundam cafe, but the place apparently closed down a few years ago. Much to his disappointment.

“Still,” Touma said, noting how the maids in the cafe had actual cat ears and fox tails, or how the robot was a genuine machine. “I wonder if this world is the future of Academy City?”

No one made a big deal about how Othinus was using her magic to sit on a flying stick like a stereotypical witch.

“Ma’am,” a humanoid cat in a blue police uniform approached them. “We recommend not using your quirk when in public.”

Othinus pointed at Touma. “I’m his quirk. He can summon me.”

Touma covered his face with his right palm and groaned. No way was anyone in their sane mind was going to believe a thing she said.

As if reading his mind and conspiring against him, Othinus clapped her hands and torched herself and Touma in gold flames. It shattered a moment later, of course, due to his Imagine Breaker nullifying the weaker magic spell. He couldn’t have done that to her stronger ones, like altering an entire world.

The humanoid feline officer nodded and twirled his whiskers with his right index and middle finger. “I see,” he said, turning to Touma. “Young man, it is your responsibility as the next generation of this world to abide by its rules. See to it to get a license if you want to use your quirk in public.”

That was another thing that got Touma’s attention. Quirks were the substitute for psychic abilities in this world. Consequently, espers were instead replaced by quirk users. There wasn’t much of a difference, in his opinion. Just names and style. Whereas in his world espers were produced by Academy City, here the quirk users were natural phenomena appearing world wide.

At least, a cursory glance at the internet gave him this information. He and Othinus were staying at a hotel in Park Hotel in Higashi-Shinbashi district in Minato and ate breakfast in Tateru Yoshino Bis, a french restaurant. These were small oddities he took note of, because they existed in his world as well. There were other areas and places he was unfamiliar with. But this was not one of them.

“But what about them?” Touma complained, pointing at the maid cafe and the robot across the street. The feline officer shrugged and told him their quirks were biological in nature. He gaped at the robot and asked if that was their actual body, to which the officer confirmed in the positive.

When the officer left, Touma wiped sweat from his forehead and quirked his brow. That was annoying. He scowled at Othinus, who shrugged.She didn’t care, unfortunately, about his plight.

“There,” Othinus said, covering herself in a soft, gold glow. A halo floated over her head. It was made of white fire, and it created phantasms and afterimages if he stared at it too long. Fluffy white wings sprouted from her back. White mist condensed underneath her, shifting into white clouds. “From now on,” Othinus continued. “I’m your guardian angel.” Touma looked at the pedestrians worriedly. “Don’t worry,” she said. “I’ve made them ignore me.” Her mental powers at work again. He wasn’t surprised by the scale of her abilities. He’d seen her shift the paradigm of an entire world’s population, after all.

“So now what?” Othinus asked. “I wish this was still our world, but it truly is an alternate universe. I cannot find the pathway back to our world. It is like we’re lost in a forest, with the road back to our hometown shrouded in mist. If we were to carelessly attempt a way back, we might be thrown into a universe even farther away.”

Touma nodded. They’ve been here a few days. They used Othinus’ power to supply them with the local currency, which was still yen. Going strong, Japan. Touma was bored. He missed Index, and all the others. Eventually, he and Othinus went to the Akihabara train station, stared at the railway and took the next train out to Shimbashi station. He didn’t really feel like eating. He’d seen all there was to see about the normal areas in this country. There wasn’t an Academy City, but there was a lot of heroes and villains. As strange as that sounds. The street was packed with cars. The traffic was incredible. The body of pedestrians immense. Tokyo even back in his original world always was the heart of Japan. There were costumed people here and there, and others with animal limbs, robotic parts or completely alien physiology altogether, but other than that everything was the same.

People were people.

“Let’s go to the museum,” Othinus said. Touma shrugged. So they went. The advertising museum was near the train station, so that was convenient. Comics, posters, magazine pages showcased the athletes, successful CEO’s and even costumed heroes in the museum. One that caught Touma’s attention was a gold statue of a man. Written underneath the statue was his name.

“All Might,” Touma read. He extracted his phone from his pocket. One of the many things Othinus bought him. It came with a data-only SIM card. He typed All Might’s name in the search engine. It revealed a muscular man, caucasian, with blond hair and blue eyes. He wore a blue bodysuit, which lead to yellow spikes on his forearms, red coloration on his abdomen, white colors on either side of his hips, and yellow booths. “Pretty weird, don’t you think?” Touma asked. “Japan having an American hero.”

Othinus raised a fine brow. “And what makes you think he’s American?”

Touma checked some of All Might’s wiki made by some fans compiling all his feats. “Texas Smash, Detroit Smash, Missouri Smash, Carolina Smash. Need I go on? Again, it’s pretty weird. Last I recall, the country of my birth wasn’t welcoming to foreigners.” Academy City was better in that regard. Touma always considered himself a citizen of Academy City first and foremost.

“This world is different,” Othinus said. “With the sheer variety in forms people have taken due to their abilities, mere race and nationality should not be a hurdle, yes?”

“You have a point…” Touma rubbed his chin. Still, it made him curious why All Might chose to do hero work in Japan instead of the States. Wonders never cease. “He’s a living legend, isn’t he?”

“And I’m a god,” Othinus said, obviously bristled. “Whatever silly moves he can do, I can do better.” Touma rolled his eyes. She was so jealous. All Might was apparently sighted in Musutafu, a district near Tokyo.

“Huh, funny. I don’t think I’ve heard of Musutafu before,” Touma said. “Another quirk of the new world, eh? Get it?” He laughed at his own joke and nudged Othinus’ shoulder with his elbow. She scoffed from where she sat on her flying cloud. White wisps from the cloud turned into a small mist on the surrounding area.

“Excuse me,” a janitor said, holding a mop as he approached them. “But do you have a license to use your quirk out in public, young lady?”

Othinus flew behind Touma and created gold light from the ceiling, which illuminated Touma, the floor and the nearby surroundings. Touma grimaced. If he didn’t play along Othinus was going to increase the stakes to a ridiculous degree.

“She’s my…” He scratched the back of his head. “Uh…” He forced a smile. “Quirk.” He grimaced and lowered his head. “I can’t turn her off. She’s like my imaginary friend, sir.”

“I am,” Othinus whispered mockingly, the light receding as she flew beside Touma and nodded her head, lying on her cloud.

The janitor nodded. Looked at Othinus in fascination. “I’ve never heard of this kind of quirk before.” He shrugged. “Well, guess if you live long enough you’ll see everything.”

Touma looked at the area around the janitor. “Where’s your bucket, old man?”

The janitor snapped his fingers. Pointed at his mop. It was damp. “My quirk might not be as fancy as yours,” he said. “But I can always make things moist.”

“Oh can you now?” Othinus flashed the janitor a coy smile. The janitor’s face went red. He covered his mouth and coughed, scowling at Touma.

“Young man, I suggest not to make fun of your elders.”

“My quirk has a mind of its own,” Touma said lazily. “Sometimes I wonder if she even realizes how much of an exhibitionist she is sometimes. Shameless, absolutely shameless.” A tendril of cloud formed from under Othinus’ cloud and swatted his back. He didn’t feel a thing. The cloud dispensed and regrouped with the greater whole.

“I understand,” the old man janitor said. “I’ve had fantasies too when I was younger.”

“And that’s my cue to leave,” Touma said, not wanting to familiarize himself with the janitor’s naughty secrets. “Come on, Othinus. Let’s go.” He walked ahead. Othinus flew over the janitor and followed Touma outside the museum.

Another cop appeared, emerging from his police car parked on the sidewalk. This one didn't have any unique features like the humanoid feline officer they spoke to earlier. He was just in uniform.

“Excuse me, miss,” the cop said. “Unless you're a hero you can't use your powers in public.” Othinus and Touma shared a conspiring look. He explained to the cop that she was his power and he couldn't turn her off. Othinus purred with the double-entendre, agreeing with him, and making Touma’s face flush with embarrassment. Surprisingly the cop bought hid excuse, like all the others. Touma, perplexed, asked the officer if powers like his were common. “No,” the officer said, looking at Othinus in something akin to awe. “But quirks are unpredictable. And eventually there's going to be a quirk for everything.”

He tipped his cap at them. “Well, I'm off then. If she truly is your quirk and you can't control her there's nothing we can do about it. Although maybe you should register your ability to the nearest police station?”

“No,” Othinus said, shaking her head. The cop, instead of insisting the point, stepped back and bowed. He returned to his car, closed the door and drove off.

Othinus must've used her magic. She could achieve virtually any effect she wished. In theory, she's practically omnipotent. In practice, it was not so. Her sole limit is knowledge. She couldn't obtain information out of thin air. With the right tools, people could bargain with her in exchange for knowledge. She was a god, after all.

OoO

They walked back to the hotel. Othinus having removed her cloud, wings and halo for the time being. A girl behind the receptionists counter greeted them, even remembering their names. Reasonable, considering Othinus bought three entire floors in addition to the penthouse. She paid for every room every night. The ridiculously expensive price wasn't even pocket change for a being who could create anything at will.

They passed through the lobby, to an elevator door. A bellboy standing beside the door made a bow. Entering it, Touma pressed the button to the top floor. It wasn't a number. Just the letter ‘P’. The hotel had many features, but neither Touma nor Othinus were interested in any of them. The two were content merely with each other.

When they reached the top floor the elevator door opened. Othinus left the elevator first and made her way through the hallway towards the small building that housed their room. There was a pool by the side of the marble pathway, and a garden of roses by the other. Neither of which were there before Othinus and Touma lodged into the hotel, of course. He followed her into the building. The living room was filled with exquisite furniture. A flat screen television was mounted on the wall. Chandelier hanged from the ceiling. There was a jacuzzi at the center of the room, covered by a circular glass floor that would split in half at the press of a button from a remote designed to control it. Othinus plopped onto a red sofa and sighed, looking tired. Touma kneeled beside her, reached his hands to her bare back and began kneading her. For a while, there was only them.

The next day, Touma woke with a smile. His back pressed against the mattress. A white blanket covered his shin up to his stomach. He stared at the ceiling of their bedroom. It was white, like everything else. Beside him lied his sleeping girlfriend. Othinus made a beautiful expression in her sleep. He ran his fingers down her gold hair, nails touching her scalp. Her lips curled into a small smile.

He got out of bed, picked up his clothes from the floor, left the bedroom and took the glass stairway down to the first floor of the penthouse. He made his way to the kitchen, eyed the black fridge, the stove, and the cabinet holding all their cooking utensils. He began to work.

When Othinus came down, she rubbed her eyes and yawned. She looked good wearing his white polo shirt. Even though it was more than she usually wore, it somehow made her sexier. She looked Touma up and down and leered at him. He understood why. He wore only his shorts. He shook his head and used his spatula to push some hash brown from a pan to a plate on a counter. He cooked hot dogs, eggs, and made some orange juice as well. Othinus took the pitcher and poured their two glass cups with the drink. Touma took two stools from another room and lowered both beside the counter, and then they took their seats.

“So how are we going to explain to the authority where we're getting the money when they begin investigating the paper trail?” Touma asked. He poked his fork into a yolk. It burst and coated the white pieces of an egg yellow.

“I made a company under your name,” Othinus said, stabbing her fork into a hash brown and a hot dog, taking a bite off both. She chewed her food, swallowed and reached for her glass. She finished the entire cup of orange juice in one gulp. “They'll think you're the heir of a chain of hotels I've bought through a shell company. By midnight last night I've acquired this one too.”

Touma shook his head and tried to hide his amazement. He shouldn't be surprised. But he is. He kept forgetting that with Othinus, the sky is the limit. And maybe not even that.

“Speaking of, I also have a hotel in Musutafu, the superhero central of Japan. It's almost like this one. But the chances of encountering other quirk users that are prone to violence will increase.” Touma sighed. Why did Othinus think he was some violent adrenaline junkie? Okay, maybe it sounded tempting, and maybe the idea of exercising his body was slightly appealing, but he was not a blood knight darn it!

Othinus watched his internal struggle with an amused smile. Curse her and her unique perspective on humanity! With how many wars she witnessed and all the nations that rose and fell during her time answering prayers she had a good idea how most humans reacted to what stimula. Touma understood this, of course. He had a unique perspective on her. He could read her like a book, and her towards him the same. It was almost telepathic, their silent conversation that made him surrender to her whims. The staring contest didn't even last two minutes before he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. She laughed and poked his chin with her fork, covering his skin with oil. He smirked, stood up and wrapped his arms around her hips. Othinus yelped, kicked a stool clattering against the floor and then giggled as he carried her back to the bedroom.

Musutafu wasn't that unique, Touma thought, later that day. It was just another place in Japan. And with all the bizarre stuff he'd seen in Akihabara and Higashi-Shinbashi, and Minato in general, Musutafu wasn't really anything special. That was of course discounting the costumed individuals walking down the street. There was a lot more of them, which surprised him.

He stood in front of the school he believed would cure the unbearable boredom he felt for this world. Large walls enclosed the area around U.A. He passed the frontgate, the entrance towards the school. The letters ‘U’ and ‘A’ were printed above the entrance, with the ‘A’ inside the ‘U’. Beyond that were two buildings connected by a skyway.

He was surprised when Othinus revealed to him that she signed his name for the entrance exam. He wasn’t happy with the idea of her brainwashing other people to do it, but she calmed him down by stating she simply forged documents of his past that were so impressive it made him a candidate anyway. He wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all, but didn’t want to anger her by thinking her ideas were funny. Instead, he simply went with the flow.

“The place where dreams come true, huh?” Touma asked. He wore civilian clothing. A blue shirt under a black jacket, black trousers and sneakers. He didn’t really stand out compared to his companion. Today Othinus forgoed her guardian angel style. What she chose to present herself as was far more ominous.

She floated behind him. Her skin glowed gold. White flame burned from her eye. White cracks formed on random areas around her body, which was barely covered by the straps she called clothes. Her cape billowed behind her ominously. She was the symbol of power.

Her form was so nerve wracking it distracted not only Touma, but the other students joining for the entrance exam.

“Hey,” a kid approached him. Or rather, his companion. The kid had curly green hair, freckles on his cheeks, and wore a black uniform. He held the straps of his backpack and shivered as he gazed upon Othinus’ godliness. He was the image of youth. He turned to Othinus, gulped and raised a finger. “You shouldn’t be using your powers in public like that.”

“Isn’t this school property?” Touma asked. “I mean, it’s my power and all.”

“Yes, but that’s not the point!” The kid said. He raised a brow. “Wait, did you say it’s your power?” He turned to Othinus, and then back to Touma. Wonder shined from his eyes.

“Yeah.” Touma shrugged. “My quirk summons her.” He jerked a thumb to Othinus, who hovered behind him ominously. “She’s basically my best friend, power and companion all rolled into one.”

“Whoa…” The kid said. He then took out a small notepad from his pocket and a ballpoint pen. “I need to write this down! I think it’s unprecedented! Truly wonders never cease. So how does your power work? Do you need to command her? Does she have a mind of her own? Is it like an A.I.? And I’m guessing by how she’s out you can’t control when she shows up?” He shot Touma question after question which disturbed the teenager.

Touma coughed. “Um…”

“Quit disturbing him, Deku.” Another kid stopped beside him. The kid had blond hair, spiked upwards like Touma’s, and a nasty glare. He wore a white scarf wrapped around his neck in addition to his black uniform, and instead of holding the straps of his backpack he buried his hands under his pocket. He looked at Othinus, then at Touma, and whistled. “Not bad.” He grinned, took out his right hand and snapped his fingers. A small red fire blew from his fingertips. “So that’s your power, huh? I’m guessing that you relied on her so much you can’t fight on your own though.”

“Kacchan!” The green haired boy, Deku, looked panicked, turning to the blond. Touma sighed. Kids these days.

“Listen,” Touma said, holding himself back from calling either of the two ‘kid’, “It’s nice to chit-chat and all but aren’t we late or something?”

“And aren’t you a little too old to be here?” ‘Kacchan’ said. Touma shrugged.

“I grow faster than others,” he said lamely. He was seventeen. Chronologically over a thousand if the time he spent with Othinus counted. These two were probably fourteen or fifteen. He didn’t know. He didn’t care. He was getting a little annoyed by how they took up his time. They were like Mikoto, and even though he was fond of her sometimes he wished she was a little more mature.

And he was going to surround himself with an entire class full of fifteen year olds. Oh joy.

“What kind of lame excuse is that?” ‘Kacchan’ said. But Touma dismissed him, already passing through the steps towards the great hallways of U.A. High School. If only his teachers could see him now. They’d shake their heads in disappointment. ‘Repeating first year, Kamijou-san? I knew you were a failure but not to this extent.’

He sighed.

Othinus covered her mouth. Despite the white fire burning from her left eye, it narrowed into a slit and she giggled. He ignored her. She always found the smallest of things entertaining. He followed the rest of the newcomers. Some pointed and whispered about Othinus. The line led into another door. Inside was a large auditorium. On the stage a man stood behind a podium with the U.A. insignia. The man looked strange. Blond hair spiked upward in a huge tuft behind his head. He sported a small mustache. Orange-tinted sunglasses covered his eyes. Headphones covered his ears. He donned a black jacket, fingerless gloves and leather pants leading to booths. But what stood out the most about him was the speaker attached to his neck. Touma read about this man. Present Mic, he called himself. His quirk enabled him to increase his voice to earth-shattering volumes. Or something like that.

Touma didn’t really know. He observed all the other students fill up the seats of the auditorium, and only then did the professor speak.

“Welcome to today’s live performance!” Present Mic said.

“Sir,” an aspiring hero called out, pointing at Othinus who floated behind Touma. “She’s using her powers!”

“It’s okay!” Present Mic dismissed the complaint with a wave of his hand. “She’s actually a projection created by examinee nine-nine-nine.” The chinese number associated with dragons. Of course. Othinus just couldn’t help herself. The (false) revelation of Othinus being Touma’s quirk got the examinees around Touma murmuring.

“Now, with that out of the way,” Present Mic said. “Everybody say ‘hey’!” If he was expecting a reply from the audience, then it was for naught, because he received none. He went on anyway. He explained he was here to present the guidelines for their practical exams. Touma and the other examinees were going to experience a ten-minute-long mock cityscape maneuver, whatever that meant. They were allowed to bring whatever they wanted. After the presentation they were supposed to head to an assigned testing location.

Each site was filled with three faux villains. Examinees were awarded with points for defeating the villains based on their respective difficulty levels. They were to use their quirks to defeat these villains and earn points. That was the goal of the exam. Attacking other examinees was prohibited.

A student stood up, holding a handout. He was tall, muscular, and gave an imposing image. He wore eyeglasses that failed to hide his sharp eyes. “May I ask a question?” he said, pointing to the handout. “There appears to be no fewer than four varieties of faux villain on this handout!” He went on to complain about how it was unbecoming for Japan’s premier superhero high school. He also called out ‘Deku’, as the blond man called him, and essentially told him to shut up.

Quite the rude fellow, Touma thought.

Present Mic addressed the imposing student, who he referred to as examinee seven-one-one-one. The fourth villain was apparently pointless, in the sense the villain would give no points for being defeated and served more as an obstacle to be crushed along the way.

Present Mic then went on about the school motto. He quoted Napoleon Bonaparte, who once said, ‘true heroism consists of being superior to the ills of life. Plus ultra.’

“Break a leg, everyone!”

And then they were off.

OoO

Touma didn’t really need anything. In fact, he wasn’t even going to use his ‘quirk’ because he had none. His only ability, Imagine Breaker, allowed his right hand to dispel supernatural powers. But he doubted robots were supernatural in nature. Luckily, he was pulling a long-con with his girlfriend, Othinus, who pretended to be his quirk.

Refuge in audacity, he thought the term was called, when something was so audacious it couldn’t be anything other than the truth. That was what Othinus was doing. He stood before a large iron gate, with two towers between it, which led to an artificial city. It was impressive. This was somewhere in U.A.’s backyard, which mean the size of their land was immense.

He stood next to Deku. Othinus floated behind him. As silent as ever. Deku was a sweating nervous wreck in his green running jacket, pants and shoes. “Are you alright?” Touma asked. “If you’re sick, you shouldn’t force yourself to participate. Just get a remedial exam or something.”

Deku shook his head. “N-no. It’s just…” He rubbed his shoulder. “Why’s everyone so confident?” He eyed the other students, who changed from their uniforms into costumes or clothing made for physical activities. Some even carried expensive looking weaponry. “But I guess I know why you’re so relaxed,” he said, once more mesmerized by Othinus. He was like a moth drawn to candlelight. If he flew closer he would get burned.

“Ahem, my name’s Touma.” Touma introduced himself. Deku nodded, offered a hand, and smiled. He gave his name. Midoriya Izuku. He was so formal too. Touma chuckled and patted Deku’s back. He was nervous, was all. Deku eyed a girl and was going to approach her. Touma stopped him. “Not a good idea flirting with people on your first day out,” Touma said like a sage, giving Deku words of wisdom. Deku blushed, obviously in awe of Touma’s genius intellect when it came to romance.

Othinus snorted behind him.

“And begin!” Present Mic spoke from a large building in the distance overlooking all the examinees. His power was at work for him to address them from such a long distance. Despite his words, no one moved. “What’s wrong? The test’s started. Run! Run! The die is cast!” And just like that, there was a great roar and the sound of a stampede as multiple examinees ran towards the artificial city.

Touma walked calmly behind them, Othinus floating beside him to his left. He turned to his right and behind him to glance at Deku. “Come on,” he said. “Can’t be nervous all day.”

“R-right!”

While Touma was calmly walking with his girlfriend, unworried for the possibility of losing points, Deku was a different story. The young aspiring hero and wielder of One for All eyed Touma’s back, and then his quirk, the golden girl. It was such a unique ability. And he knew, just from a glance, she was powerful.

He wanted to rush on ahead, but the calmness of both Touma and his quirk companion made Deku hesitate. Why were they so calm? Was it because they knew something about the test? Deku referred to them as a group, a partnership, because they were essentially two people sharing one goal. He saw the projection laugh, snort and make faces at her companion, Touma, which mean the projection had a personality of her own. Such a unique power was unheard of.

They walked down the street and turned a corner. Touma said something to his projection. Deku didn’t hear it. But the projection clapped her hands. White energy burst from her palms, crackling with power. A robot fell from the rooftop. The street cratered from where it fell. Its body was covered in steel armor. A long, silver neck stretched up to a head, shaped like a pentagon. One red eye analyzed them with cold efficiency. Its limbs, covered in metallic shields, pulled up to reveal a machine gun in its right limb and a large hand in its left. The robot was incredible, standing seven feet tall and looming over them. It raised its gun. Pointed.

Dissolved.

“Huh?” Deku rewound the last two seconds in his head. A white beam of light struck the robot and the street it stood on. When its metallic body made contact with the white light, it ceased to exist. There was a hole replacing the area it stood on moments ago. Deku gulped, turned to the projection, and saw the white fire from her left eye burning with intensity.

The street led to an open space. Fellow examinees were duking it out with various robots. Deku felt his heart racing, focusing on the projection. He glanced at Touma, who stared, bored, like this wasn’t even a challenge. He had a feeling he knew how the outcome of today’s examination was going to go. He was going to fail.

And so was everyone else.

The projection aimed her palm to the open area. White energy glowed from her palm, burst into a lance and split into multiple projectiles. She struck home. All the other robots were dissolved, just like that. The examinees stopped, their fighting positions turning to the source of the overwhelming power. Found Touma and his projection. Gaped.

“Hey!” Kacchan emerged from the crowd of students. “Who the hell do you think you are taking our points, huh!?”

“T-technically, Kacchan, it’s not illegal to steal someone else’s kill,” Deku said. Kacchan’s glare silenced him. When Kacchan turned his eyes to Touma however, Touma only responded by raising his brow.

“Believe me,” Touma said, sounding exasperated. “I’m as bored as you are. I didn’t even want to come here.” The dismissive tone he took when referring to U.A. as if it wasn’t worth his time was enough to turn Kacchan into a raging animal.

OoO

The observers watched the ongoing battle with curiosity. They sat on a black room and watched multiple screens form from the wall before them. The battle was typical in the sense that it was a yearly occurrence that revealed the skillset of the majority of its participants. Some were able to assess the situation immediately. Some were capable of moving so fast they they always partook in the main event. Some who can cope with any situation, retaining their cool. And some that are simply natural born warriors.

And then there was him. The bored teenager, looking older than the others, with disinterest in his eyes as his projection, his quirk did all the work.

“I’ve recalled someone in Africa possessed a similar ability,” one of the observers said.

“Oh? Do tell,” another, more inquisitive observer attempted to coax the information out of them.

“Unfortunately they didn’t live to explore their quirk. They were killed by a terrorist group.”

“A shame, then.”

“Is this even acceptable?” A third observer inquired, watching the projection destroy all the other robots fighting the examinees, stealing their points and depriving them of any.

“They’re not hurting their fellow students now are they?” The second observer said with an amused tone in their voice. “But to possess such power, could this be this generation’s All Might?”

“Possibly,” the third observer said. The one known as Bakugo Katsuki was full of rage as he confronted Touma and his projection. A bad idea, the observers collectively thought. With the sheer scale of power displayed on the battleground, any hope of emerging victorious was thin at best.

The fourth observer chuckled. “Well, let’s see how strong they are when we spit out the obstacle course.” They reached for a console and pressed a red button.

OoO

It was a giant robot. Thirty feet tall. Twenty feet wide. Its head was rectangular. Eight red dots served as its eyes from its flat face. The four upper eyes formed an x, with another eye at its center. It led to two more eyes in a straight line, with an extra eye between them. One large, mechanical hand gripped a building and crushed it in its metal palm. The ground shook with each step it took. It was so large, its shadow blocked out the sun. Its eyes glowed red, observing the examinees with the cold analysis of a machine.

It raised a hand.

A white beam lanced through its neck. Its head slid off its neck and fell on two buildings beside it. Its beheaded body took a mighty step back, and then fell on its back, creating a miniature earthquake.

In the aftermath of the exam, there was only silence.

One examinee fell to his knees and held his head. “Fuck! I didn’t get enough points!”

Another examinee glared at him. “At least you had some! I didn’t get any at all!”

Deku laughed nervously. “Oh my God. I thought I was the only one.”

Kacchan was clenching his fists and biting his lip so deep blood seeped out. He was holding himself back, glaring at Touma.

Touma didn’t want any of the negative attention at all. Thankfully most of the other students didn’t get angry, but instead fell to despair. He was worried. There had to be another way. Othinus was merely doing this for her own amusement, which was reasonable given her nature as a god. But these people depended on the test for their livelihood, for their future, for their dreams.

To have it all taken from them by a girl bored out of her mind was the epitome of cruelty. Deku was still laughing, also it turned into one of despair when he muttered, “There goes my chance at being a hero.”

“Wonderful. Just wonderful.” A squeaky voice spoke, giving a light clap. It came from an anthropomorphic mouse wearing a suit. There was a scar on its right eye. Its tail wagged behind it excitedly. It had emerged from one of the many buildings and approached Touma, and Othinus who flew back behind him. It ignored all the other examinees, who either glanced at it in despair or refused to meet its eyes. Kacchan remained silent, glaring solely at Touma.

“I am Nezu, also known as Mr. Principal. As my name obviously states, I am the principal of U.A. Academy. And I had to see for myself the greatness of the abilities you’ve displayed. Hmm.” Nezu held its chin, deep in thought, before snapping its fingers. “I know. How about you skip straight from first year and jump into second year? I doubt the classes offered on the first year level would be up to the challenge on someone with your immense capabilities.”

“What about them?” Touma asked, looking at all his fellow examinees.

“What about them?” Nezu repeated, as if unaware why failing the exam would matter at all. “You passed. They failed. Remember, there’s a bunch of other test sites being conducted at the moment. You can be rest assured that there will be first years regardless.” It smiled, misunderstanding the worry in Touma’s voice, and straightened its tie. “Come along now. You are a winner. With someone of your capabilities, the future is limitless. Bound solely by your imagination.”

“You have no idea how accurate you are,” Touma said, glancing at Othinus. She crossed her arms under her chest and tilted her head. With her gold skin, white cracks forming on random intervals and glowing with power, and the white flame burning from her left eye, it made for a horrifying image.

Nezu merely smiled and put its hands behind its back. It turned one-hundred and eighty degrees and said, “Come along now. The future waits for no one!”

“Give them a chance,” Touma said, clenching his right fist.

“Oh?” Nezu asked. This time, all the other examinees made hopeful looks towards Touma. “I will not simply pass those who failed on the pity of the ones who succeed.”

“I’ve got a suggestion.” Touma licked his lips. “Two minutes. If someone remains standing in two minutes, they all pass. If none of them do, then they all fail.”

Something akin to amusement glimmered from Nezu’s eyes. It laughed. “Of course. You can take the role of the incredibly powerful villain, and they the desperate heroes trying to make a last stand.” It turned to all the other examinees. “It appears your betters have given you a once in a lifetime chance to enter this school despite your inability to complete such a simple task. Let it be known this is a special circumstance which will happen solely because the sole victor has taken pity upon you lot. Do not embarrass yourselves further.” Nezu whistled and left the area.

“T-take him down!” An examinee said. “His quirk’s strong, but he’s just a normal guy!” All the other examinees raised their arms in unison and made a roar. Touma looked behind him, to Deku, who did the same. Deku shrugged and looked apologetic. Touma waved his worries off.

“Go easy on them,” he said.

“Obviously,” Othinus said.

“Touma, you have already passed the examination! Let it be known this new event is being broadcasted amongst the other examination sites! A never before seen event taking place before us all! Feast your eyes on history in the making!” Present Mic said, excitement seeping through his voice. A loud cheer was heard from all around them, from all the other examinees who became the audience to this one.

“Sorry,” Deku said from two meters behind him.

“Piece of shit,” Kacchan said from ten meters before him.

“Geez,” Touma said, scratching his ear. “It’s not like I’m the one who did all that, you know?”

“Let the mock battle begin!” Present Mic shouted.

Red flames coalesced into sphered under Kacchan’s shoes, exploding him forward at an accelerated speed. He reached a hand, which exploded with power. At the same time Deku grinned, clenched his fist and threw a right hook, aiming for the back of Touma’s head. Othinus snapped her fingers. A transparent shield shimmered around Touma, coating him in a sphere of protection. Deku’s fist struck the back of the shield. At the same time Kacchan’s palm released an explosion in front of it. Neither made so much as a dent.

“Tsk.” Kacchan jumped three meters back. Deku grimaced and did the same, rubbing his knuckle.

“Are you alright, Deku?” Touma asked.

“I-I’m fine,” Deku said.

“Stop being worried for your enemies, you point thief!” Kacchan said. He covered his eyes and scowled. Blinding gold light lit up the entire area. Othinus floated ten meters above the ground.

“She’s going to make an aerial bombardment!” Another student said.

“I’ve got her!” One examinee leapt from the ground. Their fists turned into blades. They launched an uppercut towards Othinus. She caught the tip of the blade with her two fingers. The student grinned and launched the other one from the side. Othinus’ fingers created white light that washed over the blade-wielding student. She released her hold on the blade and watched the examinee fall to the ground, unconscious.

“Get her!” Multiple examinees raised their hands. Energy lights, the nearby debris, water, fire, even electricity, and a red dynamite were all launched simultaneously, creating a rainbow of superpowers and a cacophony of noises as they struck Othinus. She was shrouded in smoke. For a moment, the examinees hoped. Then the smoke slowly receded, revealing her silhouette.

“Screw this I’m out of here!” one examinee said, turning to the city and making a run down the street towards the beheaded robot. A gold disk burst from the smoke, flying through the air, aimed towards the running examinee. It struck his back. He fell on his front without so much as a cry of pain. The smoke was gone, revealing Othinus in all her glory.

Gold disks coalesced between her fingers. She began throwing them at random. Examinees fell where they stood the moment they were struck. Her disks ignored all defenses and removed them from the battle the moment it made contact with their clothing or skin. It was raining gold all around him. Touma watched the examinees, found number seven-one-one-one carrying another examinee away. And then the disk made contact with his back. Seven-one-one-one fell on top of the other examinee, knocking them both unconscious.

Out of all the examinees, it was Deku and Kacchan who resisted the most. Deku was moving at superhuman speed, pushing himself to the limit just to dodge all of Othinus’ disks. Kacchan supplemented his steps with fiery explosions that let him leap away from the danger. He ran through the window of a building and shattered the glass from the other side, making an escape through the streets of the artificial city. Othinus held her hands together. White energy beamed into a line, cutting through the building and down towards the street. It was silent. There was no explosions, crackling or quakes. The building simply ceased to be. Kacchan was most likely unconscious.

Othinus turned to the sole remaining examinee. Deku.

“Tell you what,” Othinus said. “We’re willing to surrender the match and let you all pass in exchange for one favor in the future. Sounds good? You’ll be saving all these unconscious students too.”

“Tempting,” Deku said, sighing. “But it just wouldn’t feel right.”

“Be smart, Deku,” Touma said. He had a feeling Othinus was doing this for for her own amusement, but wanted to take advantage of the offer. “When I ask you a favor it’ll probably be to clean a room or something. Nothing dangerous or stupid at all. Just take the deal. I literally have no hold over her.” At least at the moment.

“No! If I’m going to win this, I’ll win it fair and square!” Deku said. He vanished from the street and reappeared behind Othinus. He leaped ten feet in the air behind her? Such power, Touma thought. He threw his fist towards Othinus’ face. “Detroit smash!”

There was a crack.

“Ah, shit…” Deku looked at his broken arm, and then at Othinus, who remained on her spot, hovering on the air, with the clear blue sky behind her. Deku fell between the sidewalk and the remnants of a broken building. He was unconscious. His speed was impressive, for sure, but in the end he used the same tactic as the blade-wielding examinee, and paid the price for it.

“And the two minutes are up!” Present Mic shouted. “It appears that all the examinees failed! Better luck next year, young hopefuls!” Othinus smiled in satisfaction. Touma rubbed his forehead, feeling a migraine kick in. “And our promising student, Touma, and his unique quirk, the projection called Othinus, are both officially accepted by U.A.!”

“W-wait!” Someone said. Touma’s eyes widened and he looked from the gap between his fingers. Othinus looked in surprise at the source of the voice. It was the examinee number seven-one-one-one was carrying earlier. It was also the girl Deku wanted to approach before the start of the exam. She had a shoulder-length bob-cut brown hair and large, brown eyes. She kicked and crawled from under the body of the unconscious seven-one-one-one. She managed to escape, take in a deep breath, and smiled like she just won the lottery. “I’m conscious, so that means I’m in, right?” She glanced at all her fellow examinees and her smile grew wider. “That means we’re all in!”

Othinus gaped, speechless, covered her mouth, and laughed.

This was the limit of her power. Despite the illusion of omnipotence, she couldn’t pull information from thin air. She had no way of knowing truly if all the other examinees were beaten. She shook her head. Her gold hair swayed behind her. She lowered to the ground and gently landed in front of the brown haired girl. “What is your name, child?” Othinus asked, raising her slender arms to lower her hands on the girl’s shoulders.

“Urakara Ochako!” she said, her voice proud and her head held high.

“A wonderful name,” Othinus said, lowered her hand to Ochako’s wrist, and raised her arm. “To the one who carried all the other students!”

Ochako scratched her cheek and blushed. “I couldn’t have done it without Iida-kun.”

“All the examinees who fought against Touma and Othinus have passed into the U.A.!” Present Mic said. An overwhelmingly large applause followed.

OoO

Touma leaned back on his bed and frowned. It felt like he ran a marathon. That was despite doing nothing. It was late into the evening after the stressful event at U.A. High School. Those kids were really something. Somehow he didn’t see himself as brave as them when he was their age. Not that it mattered because he didn’t remember.

“What’s wrong, human?” Othinus asked. She emerged from the bathroom, followed by steam. She wore a short white robe and held a towel to dry her damp her. “Did you not enjoy today’s outing?”

“Nah,” Touma said. “I couldn’t really do anything against any of them. Put me in a room with Deku and you can bet ten-thousand yen I’d get my ass kicked. That goes the same for all of them. They were all so amazing.”

And so young, too. What did he accomplish when he was their age? He didn’t know, again, because he lost his memories, but he doubted it was anything as significant as what these kids were up to. He raised his arm and clenched his hand into a fist, as if he was trying to grab the ceiling. He couldn’t, of course. But someone else could. Othinus. If there was a reward at the end of a long and fulfilling life, she is the result of that reward. A magician who practiced her spells until she achieved godhood. There was no one that could compete with her. Not even him. He lowered his arm back into the mattress and let out a breath.

“I’m sorry,” Othinus said, looking at the floor. “I didn’t mean to force you into that place, Touma.”

“It’s fine,” he said. “I don’t really mind.” She raised her head and returned her gaze to him. “You seem pretty happy picking on other people. I knew it. Othinus is a big bully.”

She smiled in amusement. “And you know it.” She dropped the towel, sashayed towards the bed, and crawled towards him. Her hands landed on either side of his head. Her damp gold hair curtained his eyes from the walls, her face blocking his view of the ceiling. She was his entire world, and they both knew it. She made a saucy grin and licked her lips. “Why don’t I reward my boyfriend for being such a gentleman for accompanying me?”

He held her hips. “That sounds lovely.” She closed her eye and leaned in for a kiss.

OoO

Othinus was soaked with sweat, and still awake, when Touma went to sleep beside her. The blanket draped over her body. She clutched it to her chest. Her cheeks were flushed. Her hair clung to her skin. Her green catlike eye was dilated. She looked out the window of their penthouse. The moon was full tonight.

Moonlight passed through the window, illuminating her skin. It was almost the same. She was ethereal like that. Othinus raised one slender arm, pointed at the rooftop of a building on the distance, and released a pulse of magic. She wanted to apologize to Touma, but she couldn’t. Her schemes were simply too addicting.

But then again, so was he.

His hand, bigger and rougher than hers, wrapped around her waist and held her stomach, pulling her lithe body towards him. Her back pressed against his chest as he spooned her. Othinus sighed. Even when he was asleep, his body wanted her.

“You’re so insatiable,” she purred. He kissed her head.

In the distance, at a building from the edge of Musutafu district, the pulse of magic enveloped the rooftop in darkness. From the darkness, a staircase formed, as if it led to the underworld, and a silhouette took the steps up, emerging from the darkness into the rooftop. She was Othinus, in her second body. The cold wind did nothing against her skin. The darkness receded from the rooftop and jumped to her, like webs, wrapping around her body and covering her completely. It functioned more like a bodysuit that clung to her skin than actual clothing, but it would do. It left her neck up bare. A hood formed at the back from her neckline. She pulled it up to cover her head, putting a layer on top of her hair. Two cat ears sprouted from the hood.

Othinus opened her hand. The darkness webbed together, small tendrils stitching into a shape, a greater whole that would serve her. It sewed into shape, taking the form of a whip. The handle fit snugly into her palm. The end of the lash pulsed with magic. She struck the air, creating a whip-crack as the ripple reached the tip, creating a sonic boom. She nodded in satisfaction.

Tonight, she would go hunting.

Othinus could read the minds of mortal men. And women. She knew with just a glance the sins humans have committed. The rooftop she stood on was a budget hotel. Someone climbed up the fire escape. It was a fat man, wearing a tank top, his stomach bulging and his shirt unable to completely cover his skin. He had receding hair, a stubble, and had a tobacco cigarette between his lips. Othinus read his mind. The man was called Hiroaki Kurita. He formerly lived in a small village with his wife and two kids. The marriage took a toll on his sanity. He eventually resorted to drinking to forget his misery. Sometimes when his kids tried to stop him from drinking he would beat them. Then one night while he was chopping some vegetables after wasting himself on a dozen bottles his wife told him she was going to leave, and she was going to take the kids. Enraged, he stabbed her in the chest and set the house on fire. He left, hearing his kids cry for help. He never looked back.

“How did you escape the authorities?” Othinus asked, amazed. With how oversaturated this world was with heroes, she assumed it functioned like a comic book and all the bad guys went to jail. She was proven, to her delight, incorrect in her assumption.

“Are you a hero?” The murderer checked her out, admiring her slender body that despite being fully clothed, left little to the imagination. He smiled.

So did she.

She held the handle, whipped her lash, and struck the man’s head. The tip of her whip cut through his forehead, splitting his skull all the way to his legs. Two pieces of his body fell on the rooftop. Guts, gore and more stenched the air.

Othinus pulled her whip back and held it with both hands, pulling the ends from behind her neck. She decided she too would play hero and indulge herself in the ridiculousness of this world. She would put a permanent stop to the bad guys who escaped the eyes of justice, and leave their rotting corpse for the world to judge.

She would be the punisher of the evil who lurk in the shadows. All for her own amusement. She perched on the ledge of the rooftop and observed the street. She found three pedestrians. One crossed the pedestrian lane. Another hid in the alleyway. A third had their back to the wall of the building she was on, holding a cigar and talking to someone in their phone. She inspected all three. Found only one of them guilty. The one hiding in the alleyway was a mugger who killed three people over the course of the week. Two of them were married.

Othinus took a step off the ledge and fell. There was no sound when her feet touched the alley. She observed the mugger from behind. They wore a denim jacket, pants, and white shoes. There was something like dirt staining their shoes. Othinus recognized it from all the wars she bore witness to and participated in. Dried blood. The pedestrian crossed the street, walked up the curb and made their way through the sidewalk. The mugger reached for a silver revolver hidden under their pocket.

Othinus whipped their right shoulder. It flew. Blood from the stump sprayed the wall red. The mugger screamed, drawing the attention of the pedestrian walking and the one talking to the phone. Othinus whipped a second time. This time the head flew off. The body fell on its knees, and then on the floor.

Othinus emerged from the alley, ignoring the two pedestrians who looked at her curiously. They peeked into the alley. It was dark. They couldn’t see in the dark light her. The one with the cigar used the light from his phone to illuminate the alleyway. He found fingers, which led to an arm, and then to a headless stump soaking the alleyway.

The other pedestrian screamed and made a run for it. The one with the phone dropped their cigar. “Murderer!” They said, pointing at her and then began furiously tapping into their phone, most likely to call the police. Othinus dismissed them and left.

She remembered what it was like when she was praised by her worshippers, the Germanic Peoples of Scandinavia, and how good it felt back then to have her acts of kindness acknowledged. Soon, she would once more gather worshippers. Not vikings who kneeled before the Norse pantheon, but this time people who idolized costumed crime-fighters.

She would be the greatest of them all.

OoO

Jon Doe inspected the body of Hiroaki Kurita. His corpse had been bisected in half. His brain was partly mushed from the intensity of the impact, burying into a gouge on the floor of the rooftop. His eyeballs popped from the sockets. His nose was torn off during the attack, leaving bone where there should be flesh. His teeth to his jaw were split cleanly and evenly. His intestines spilled from the opening between his stomach. Blood and flesh created a nauseating stench.

Jon Doe left quickly. He went down the fire escape, from the door to Hiroaki's room, pass the living room, leading to the hallway outside the door, and down the steps to the lobby. The clerk ignored him. It was night shift duty and he doubted all the clerks working from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. recognized the people who lodged from the day shift. He hastily walked out of the sidewalk, across the street, into his car. He took out his key from his pocket, opened the door, sat in the driver's seat, held the steering wheel, the gearshift, and stepped on the ignition. Only when he left Musutafu district did he feel safe. He called his boss.

“Yes?” came the answer from the other line.

“Hiroaki, sir, he's been killed.”

“Impossible.”

The reason why Hiroaki Kurita escaped the authorities was due to the new passport, credit card and driver's licence provided by Jon Doe's employer. Jon Doe personally saw to extracting Hiroaki from his village and hid him under one of their many warehouses until the heat died down.

Hiroaki had been a valuable co-worker for Jon Doe and reliable employee under his boss. He became their hit man, and despite his looks he was effective at what he did.

“Where there any witnesses?” His employer asked.

“Two people claimed they saw a killer emerge from an alleyway, after beheading another person and cutting off their right arm. It was an alleyway beside the budget hotel Hiroaki was staying at.”

“So it's a vigilante,” his boss said.

“It appears so, sir. They'll probably resurface soon. Based on what I saw, they were just getting started. Do you want me to take care of it?”

“No. Hiroaki possessed nothing that could lead it back to us. Form a contract. Hire the blade brothers, and if they fail, the British assassin. Do not give them a trail, understood? If they fail and the authorities catch them we cannot be connected to the crime.”

“Yes, sir.” His employer hang up. Jon Doe remembered the description of the vigilante. She resembled a cat. Well this poor kitten was in for a rude awakening.

OoO

Police detective Tsukauchi Naomasa looked down the scene of the crime. Forensic photographers took pictures both of the beheaded corpse in the alleyway and the bisected man on the rooftop. The murders were violent and brutal.

A yellow police tape condoned the alleyway and the fire escape. Police cruisers surrounded the street and the building.

Tsukauchi looked away from the corpse. A plain white van parked across the street. Medical examiners left the vehicle, ducked under the police tape and approached the detective. He pointed them to the body, in no mood to talk, and left the alley.

Witness testimony correlated with a cat quirk user. She wore a black bodysuit, hood, her cat ears poking above it, and held a whip as her weapon. She must be capable of increasing the kinetic energy of her attacks.

Luckily, he already knew the perfect person to counter her.

What she did was monstrous. She was a serial killer, no doubt about it. And he was going to put her to jail if it's the last thing he'll do. News Reporters emerged from vans, holding mics and accompanied by cameramen. The police chief was getting busy answering questions, and the other officers stood beside him to keep out the crowd.

“Just you wait, kitty cat. We'll be taking you to the pound.”

OoO

White beam of light lanced from her hand and struck down the building, tearing it into shreds.

He rewound the video. It started at the beginning, when Touma calmly walked behind the crowd, his projection hovering behind him.

Neku paused the video from the white tablet, interlaced his fingers and leaned on his knuckles. “Fascinating,” he said. His mousy face smiled.

He traced a thumb on Touma's face. He knew the credentials were fake. He planned to expose the fraudster and teach the other examinees the lesson of honesty.

But it turned out kernels of truth were spread amongst the fake credentials. Was he a spy? A hero that had been watching from behind the scenes? The literal chosen one destined to inherit the weight of the world on his shoulders and lift it from All Might?

And his quirk was so unique. One of a kind...

“Who are you, Touma Kamijou?”

He called a private detective under his payroll. It was time to unearth the truth behind the large lies the promising student hid behind.

And he reminded himself to tell the private eye to do it discreetly.

OoO

Touma woke up, yawned, picked up his clothes and left the bedroom. On the kitchen Index, Mikoto and Accelerator surrounded the counter.

“Morning Index. Morning Mikoto. Morning Accelerator.”

“Hey there Touma!” Index, the slender silver haired girl said.

“G-good morning.” Mikoto, the athletic brown haired girl stammered in greeting.

“Hey, hero.” The frail albino nodded to him. Accelerator took a glass cup and poured him a cup of coffee. Touma thanked him, drank the coffee, and closed his eyes.

Being with friends was the best.

And then he remembered he was in a different universe, caught Accelerator's wrist with his right hand, disabling Accelerator’s power, and spat his coffee on the albino’s face, drenching him with a mixture of coffee and Touma's spit.

Accelerator glared at him from under his dosed white bangs. “Classy,” he said.


	2. Chapter 2

They were not the real Mikoto, Index, or Accelerator. Othinus created them with her magic, to be exact replicas of the ones from Touma’s world. That was the might of her status as a Magic God, supplemented by the lance of Gungnir. One-hundred-percent success. Each and every time. She also recreated the rest of the level 5’s, and they were currently resting three floors down in the hotel which functioned as their base of operation while the penthouse was to be the command post.

They were her familiars, for lack of a better term, and in addition to the personality, memories and abilities of the originals, they were also completely subservient to her will.

She ambled down the glass steps of the stairway in a short, silky velvet robe. With one hand holding the railguard, and glanced at her three familiars. They glanced back, but then dismissed her to focus all their attention on Touma.

Good. She gave them strict orders. They were to play a role. Act like they were in the same scenario as herself and her lover. She made her way to the fridge and took out a bowl of potato salad as she observed.

Touma was unaware of Othinus’ deceit. He sat by the table, wincing whenever he saw Accelerator glare at him. Mikoto laughed. Index told him it was rude. That was five minutes ago. After he went back upstairs to retrieve a towel, handing it to Accelerator, the four of them reuniting like old friends years after they’ve graduated.

Which was strange. Since when did Mikoto and Accelerator get along? Well, it was better than them arguing at least.

“Do any of you remember how you got into this world?” Touma asked.

“No,” Accelerator said. He didn’t eat anything. Mikoto indulged herself in a slice of chocolate cake and Index ate everything else. “We don’t remember how we got into this world. It’s pretty weird though. People actually calling themselves heroes and villains unironically?” He chuckled and shook his head. “How childish.”

So says the pot, calling out the kettle, Touma thought. He didn’t voice his opinion though. This was Accelerator, the #1 level 5 esper from Academy City. Accelerator was an albino with white hair, red eyes and pale skin. He wore a white and black striped long sleeve shirt, black trousers and shoes. He tapped his collar, which was wrapped on his neck. Accelerator was originally Touma’s enemy, but after some time and fighting against each other in Russia and then fighting together in Hawaii, he believed they were at least friends. That is until Touma spat coffee on his face. It might be dry now, but the brown stains on his shirt didn’t look like they were disappearing anytime soon.

“How did you get here anyway?” Touma asked. “I mean, me and Othinus-”

“Othinus and I,” Index corrected with a smile. Index had silver hair, green eyes and a cheerful personality. She donned a white nun’s habit that hid her slender frame. Touma didn’t remember how he met Index, but the love she showed for him made him regret lying to her face and not telling her that he lost his memories. He promised to take care of her, and was worried what she’d do back in Academy City without him. Now it seems the issue resolved itself, which was okay, he supposed.

“Er, Othinus and I arrived at the same and then commandeered this hotel. She did, anyway. A-anyway, how are your memories?”

“Hmm. A bit fuzzy,” Mikoto said. Unlike Accelerator, who was an albino, or Index, who was caucasian, Mikoto almost passed for a completely regular Japanese student. Short brown hair, chestnut brown eyes, and a slender yet athletic body under her brown coat, blazer and skirt combined to give the image of an energetic school girl with too much time and not enough sense. She and Touma met by chance. A lot.

Goes to show even an alternate universe wasn’t enough to stop the coincidence that is their odd friendship from happening once more.

“Yeah,” Index chirped. “There’s static replacing what I was doing back in the original world, too. What were we doing, Touma?”

“Ah. Our memories were probably affected by the trans-dimensional jump,” Accelerator said. “But given your abilities you’d be immune to mind altering spells.”

I wish I was, Touma wanted to complain. But he had a hunch the first time he met Index it was something supernatural that erased his memories. There wasn’t any scar on his head to say it was something physical, and if it was some sort of advance x-ray technology he doubted he’d have a brain left because it would be fried by the radiation.

“We were just hanging out at Academy City.” His excuse was weak, so he changed the subject. So,” Touma said. “You have no idea who the blonde girl with the eyepatch is?” He jerked his thumb towards Othinus who stood by the counter, eating her salad.

All three of them flinched. Othinus widened her eyes, the spoon she was using to eat the potato salad stuck between her lips, and hastily walked away. She must be worried about their judgmental gaze, Touma thought. But she didn’t have to, becauses none of them recalled who she even was.

Othinus, the leader of Gremlin, the terrorist faction that ignited the war on terror from Academy City, the United States and a whole lot of other countries.

He loved her, but he knew she was dangerous. When the three looked at him worriedly and shook their heads, he simply nodded, not bothering to remind them of who she was. Infighting was the last thing this group needed.

“I thought you’d like it if I gathered your friends,” Othinus said, approaching him. She held out the bowl of potato salad. Touma took the bowl and thanked her. The spoon she used was impaled on top of the salad. He took the silver utensil, scooped a piece and ate the cold meal. It was good.

“I-indirect kiss,” Mikoto said, covering her reddening face. “I'm too young to see this!”

Touma tilted his head. “You’re so weird sometimes, biribiri,” he said, calling her by her nickname biribiri, or bug zapper, after the sound of a hum she makes whenever she generates electricity. Electricity sparked from her bangs and she scowled.

“I told you not to use that name!” Mikoto exclaimed. Touma’s instincts kicked in, he dropped the bowl on his lap and he raised his right arm protectively over his body. But to his surprise she didn’t attack him.

“Hey, Touma, Touma.” Index called him six more times. When he finally turned to her, the girl beamed at him and said, “Can I have some too?”

“Sure.” He passed the bowl across the table. Index caught it, took a spoonful of the potato salad and made a delighted sound.

“It’s so good,” she moaned.

“T-triple kiss!?” Mikoto stood up, abruptly pushing her chair back and scraping the legs of her chair against the floor. “I-I’m going to take a walk!”

Touma’s phone ringed. “Hold that thought, Mikoto.” It was a message. He read the text. It read, ‘Hey. Dekku here. I was wondering if we could hang out?’ He asked if it was fine to bring friends, to which Deku replied in the positive. He'd manage to reconnect with his friends and get to know his classmate both at the same time.

“Hmm? Index blinked and tilted her head like a little kitten. Accelerator yawned.

“It’s one of my future classmates,” Touma said. “I got into high school again.”

“So you’re a repeater now?” Accelerator snorted.

“I knew you’d say that. But truth be told it was Othinus’ idea.”

“O-oh.” Accelerator nodded and kept to himself. Touma raised a brow. No snarky comments?

“We’re going to meet your friend?” Mikoto asked with a grin.

“More like acquaintance.” Touma scratched his head, running his hand over the spikes of his hair, folding them against his palm. Othinus beat Deku, Kacchan and everyone else unconscious. Maybe the kid was there to rant or something. Touma didn’t know.

“I’ll get changed,” Othinus said. “Make myself presentable.”

“Me too, I guess. I’ve got a room downstairs and everything.” Mikoto left the kitchen.

“I’d have been fine as I am, but someone had to spit their drink on me. Might as well take a bath.” Accelerator grunted and left. It left Othinus, Index and Touma. Index blissfully drank iced tea from her cup, unaware of the awkward glance Touma gave her. He should’ve known. Now that Index was back in his life, she thought they were going to live together again. Not that he had a problem with that, but she didn’t know his intimate relationship with Othinus. She found him looking at her and hummed.

“Touma? Is everything okay?”

“Index,” Touma said, his voice firm and his heart resolute. “From now on you get your own bedroom, okay? There’s a lot in the penthouse.” Sure, he might value his own privacy, but he didn’t want to distance himself from her completely.

“Sure,” Index said, and to his surprise continued eating her breakfast.

“O-okay.” Index was often territorial. She’d have butted heads with Othinus almost immediately. That she didn’t spoke wonders about her new attitude. Just what was going on?

“Get changed too, Index,” Othinus said.

“Okay,” Index said. She immediately stood and left the kitchen. Touma gaped at what he saw. Half eaten hot dog, an untouched soft boiled egg, and three pieces of bacon on her plate. All untouched. She never left her food unfinished unless she was already full, like the gathering on night they fought Princess Carissa and her coup d'etat on London during England’s civil war, also known as British Halloween.

“There’s something weird about her,” Touma said.

“E-enough about fawning over other girls, human! Now help me get dressed!” Othinus, probably jealous of the attention he gave Index. He nervously laughed, making her blush, growl and push his back out of the kitchen and up the steps to their room.

OoO

Deku was not a social person. Years of bullying from Kacchan made him nervous when meeting new people. Yet here he was, in Shiogama Park, having taken a train from Musutafu station to Shimbashi. He wore a black shirt under a white hoodie, denim pants and blue sneakers.

He looked at the time. It was one in the afternoon. Touma had replied, telling him to meet up at Siagama Park, unaware Deku didn’t leave in Tokyo. But Deku didn’t want to be a killjoy. After all, he was the one who asked Touma to meet up.

And now, when he saw the group Touma was with, he had second doubts. He sat by a bench, looking beyond a wooden fence to a small island by the river. A sakura tree was planted atop it. Cherry blossoms were carried by the wind. One pink leaf lazily sailed down the air towards Deku. He caught the petal and smiled.

“Hey Deku.” A soft, gentle voice greeted him. Othinus made a wave. She wore a red blouse, white shorts and black stockings, leading to white shoes. She combed a lock of gold hair behind her head. A white halo made of fire floated on her head. White wings spread from behind her, once, and then curled back. There was a soft, gold glow over her skin.She was breathtakingly beautiful.

“Angelic…” Deku murmured. She held hands with Touma, who donned a long sleeved blue shirt, black trousers and boots. Accompanying them were two more girls.

One was another caucasian with silver hair, green eyes, and a cute face, wearing a white sundress under a coat, and a pair of sandals. She gave off the aura of innocence. With just a glance Deku knew she wouldn’t hurt a fly.

The other one was Japanese, with shoulder-length brown hair tied into a ponytail, a black cap, a black shirt, and denim shorts revealing toned legs leading to her sneakers. She looked Deku up and down and grinned. Buzzing with energy. “I’m Mikoto. Nice to meet you.” She offered a hand in greeting. Deku shook it.

“I-I’m Midoriya, Midoriya Izuku,” he said. Then he saw someone fifteen feet back on the stone pathway that made his instincts flare. He was a frail looking man with white hair, red eyes and pale skin. He wore a shirt under a hoodie, pants and shoes. All white. Immaculate.

Deku clenched his fist. The albino strolled towards them.

“Hi, there!” Index said in English, and then perfectly translated it to Japanese. She made a wide smile and leaned forward, her hands behind her back in a position that reminded Deku of an inquisitive anime girl character. “I’m Index. I’m so happy Touma made another friend. It’s nice to meet you, Izuku.” She went straight for his first name, ignoring the Japanese custom of calling people by their last names, indicating her origin as a foreigner.

As if her looks weren’t big enough of a giveaway.

“Nice to meet you,” Deku said. “Um, your Japanese is pretty fluent.” He felt stupid with his lame compliment. But Index giggled.

“You’re cute,” she chirped, making him blush with the bluntless of her words. “I’m a brit from London, but my heart’s Japanese through and through!” She pounded her chest and nodded with a serious expression. It turned into a smile and she made an awkward laugh, scratching the back of her head as she did so. “Just kidding.”

“Hey.” The albino finally reached them. “So you’re the kid Touma’s been talking about.”

“Y-yes, I’m Midoriya Izuku.” The albino gave bad vibes. It was like he was the exact opposite of Index. Despite his frail appearance, there was power in his body. It reminded Deku of someone else. Othinus.

“Accelerator,” he gruffed. “So you’re some sort of superhuman?”

‘Did he know!?’ Deku thought, and then shook his head.

“So you’re not?” Accelerator asked, looking surprised and misunderstanding Deku’s internal monologue.

“I-I am!” Deku said. “I mean, aren’t we all? Ha-ha-ha-ha…” He wiped sweat from his forehead and cringed.

“Quirk users,” Mikoto said, looking amused. “I guess we sort of are.” She raised her hand. Sparks charged from her palm, surging to her fingers in a blue web of electricity.

Index jumped excitedly. “Oh, me next, me next!” Her green eyes glowed pink and wings grew from her back. Compared to Othinus’, whose wings were majestic and white feathers heavenly, Index’s were smaller, and red like the color of blood. For some odd reason it compounded to Deku’s head the image of a younger angel accompanying a more mature archangel.

“You can control that now?” Touma asked, surprised.

“Ah…” Index looked around her, as if searching for an excuse. Her eyes settled on Othinus. “Othinus helped me unlock my full potential.” She pouted and put her hands on her hips. “And since when did you even think I had magic?” She called her quirk magic? That just made her more endearing to Deku.

“Quirk, Index, quirk.” Touma shrugged. “And I just assumed, you know? I knew you said you didn’t have any power, but I didn’t believe you.” He turned to Othinus. “Thanks for helping her.” Othinus gave a thumbs up.

“Huh? Is that a shrine? I want to see it. Come on!” Index said, grabbing Deku’s hand. She ran for the torii, a red gate, which led to a stone staircase, to the summit, where they were welcomed by a vermilion-lacquered Zuishinmon gate and found the Shiogami Shrine. Deku clutched his stomach, breathing heavily. Sweat soaked his clothes. They ran up two-hundred steps, yet Index wasn’t even winded. He glanced at Index’s feet and saw why. She was hovering inches from the ground. She used her wings to fly and he didn’t even notice. Index dropped Deku’s wrist and approached the shinto shrine. The kami, or spirits within, were said to answer the calls of fishermen and pregnant women.

She turned to Deku, noticed his sweat-soaked body and gasped. “Izuku, I am so sorry for dragging you up with me!”

Touma caught up, looking like he'd ran a marathon. He was taking large intakes of air, saw the two, and grimaced. He walked towards Index, made her face Deku, held the back of her head and pushed her into a bow. Touma did the same. “Forgive me for my impulsive companion,” he said. Index whined. Touma let her go. She straightened her back and rubbed her head from where he touched her, glaring at him. Touma glared back.

They were like siblings.

“Touma, I'll have you know that that hurt!”

“Index, it's your fault for dragging someone who didn't even know you up two hundred steps!” Touma wore an apologetic expression when he faced Deku. “Let me make it up to you?”

Deku didn't want to impose, but he was so tired. “Sure, that seems nice.”

OoO

They found a nice restaurant a block from the park. They took two booths. Accelerator, Index, Mikoto and Othinus took one booth. Touma and Deku took another. Deku wanted it to be a private discussion, and was thankful Touma humored him. A waiter came to their booth  handed them the menus, and told them to call when they've chosen their order. Deku took one glance at the price tag of the food and weeped. It was beyond his budget. Luckily, it seems Touma was made of money.

Deku looked him up last night after the insane battle that took place during the entrance exam. He checked and rechecked the internet, looking for anything to reveal Touma's past. The search engine led him to various hotels, recently bought by a new company. To his surprise, the owner of the company was one Kamijou Touma.

‘We're going to the same school but we couldn't be farther apart.’ Touma was probably a rich child who inherited his money, kept quiet for several years and then struck countless deals that made him the owner of corporation worth millions, if not more. A rich heir and savvy businessman with an overpowered quirk. The complete opposite of Deku who came from humble beginnings and earned his quirk through hard work.

“Why'd you call me here?”

“I'm sorry?” Deku was too engrossed in his thoughts to hear Touma's words. He heard them alright, but they came out more as noise than anything that held meaning.

Touma sighed. “Deku, why did you want to meet? And I'm sorry if I brought my friends. They're a handful.”

“N-no, it's fine. They're all nice.” Better than Kacchan at any rate. “And I wanted to know more about the strongest quirk user in Japan.”

Touma chuckled. “That's some praise.”

“It's not. Just an observation. Kamijou-san,” he said.

“Call me Touma.”

“Touma, then. I've been wondering about who you were since the moment we've met. Someone as strong as you, not making waves in the news until today?”

“There's news about me?” Touma looked worried. Understandable. Based on data Deku compiled through observation and research, Touma was a very private man. Secretive and mysterious. It's a shame videos of him and his projection quirk Othinus were trending on Youtube.

And it amazed Deku Youtube still possessed the lead on most used video-sharing website. Some mega corporations just can't be beat, it seems.

He took out his phone, went to Youtube and showed Touma the trending video. Touma groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. The video began from when he and Othinus were leisurely walking behind the other examinees. From the robots dissolved to the giant robot beheaded, and then to the battle against fellow examinees, it was all there. It had over one hundred million views, and every hour the number grew larger.

“Who leaked this stuff?” Touma asked.

“No one knows,” Deku said. He assumed it was a teacher, probably Present Mic, or a quirk user who hacked into the schools security systems and made copies of the entrance exam.

“It's Present Mic, isn't it.” Touma ran his fingers over his hair. Deku shrugged. He didn't know. He wasn't going to accuse someone in the chance he was wrong. “Him or some videotaping quirk user.”

“Touma, why did you hide for so long?” Deku asked. “With power like yours, you'd be a star.”

“Deku, believe me when I say I didn't want this level of publicity.”

Deku nodded. He recalled Touma stating Othinus had a mind of her own. He didn't understand how Touma's power worked. Was he a battery and her the electrical device? And she needed his life force to support her own existence? Then if Touma died, that meant Othinus would cease to be. But if he just summoned her or gave her life and she was independent from then on, then that meant something else. Touma could create life, and powerful ones, if he could replicate her existence.

For a moment Deku entertained the idea that she was just a quirk user messing around and lying by pretending to be Touma's projection, but he dismissed it. They were too attached, and she was too subservient to him.

It's his past. Deku didn't know enough. What he learned was sparse and ultimately unhelpful in determining who Touma really is.

He didn't tell Touma any of this, of course. His obsession for knowledge might paint him as a stalker.

Instead, he asked, “Touma, are you dating Othinus?”

“Yeah.” The answer was immediate and natural, like when you asked people if they needed to breath and they'd answer in the positive. Unless they had a quirk that makes breathing redundant.

“So you're dating your own projection?” Was Deku's follow up question. Touma stuttered for an answer, groaned and kneaded his forehead. Deku understood the sentiment. Touma was dating himself, in a way, if his split personality was that of a heavenly girl with ethereal beauty. People often imagined a perfect partner, but what if someone had the power to make that imagination real?

They would get Othinus.

How does the dynamic of their relationship even work?

He was so fascinated with the concept of a power that made imagination real. He wanted to analyze it until he figured it out completely.

“Deku, I'm sure you have a lot of questions. But before that, let's order lunch, yeah? You can order anything you want. I have unlimited funds.” Touma glanced behind him, to the booth beside theirs. Othinus sat with her back to Touma's, with the backrests the only barrier between them.

“She probably understands you completely,” Deku said. It made sense. If their bond made them empathetic towards each other, then their relationship was already perfect.

Touma looked in alarm, and then chuckled. “She does.”

OoO

Expensive food was seriously delicious, was the conclusion Deku came to, after filling his stomach with the wonderful menu of the restaurant.

He was enjoying a mushroom soup when something intriguing happened. One of the customers, an old man probably in his sixties, and wearing a nice suit, was making his way out of the restaurant when he was devoured by fire that took the shape of a snake. His charred body was flung back to the wall across the room. When he slid down to the floor, he left a trail of blood staining the wall. The scent of burning flesh would remain in his memory for the rest of his life.

Deku gaped at the brutality of the attack. With just a glance, he knew the man was dead. He mourned for the senseless taking of a life and then glared at the source of the attack.

The fire-snake quirk-user stood by the door, blocking it. They wore a black hooded coat that covered their head, sunglasses and a black face mask to hide their identity, and black pants, shoes and gloves that gave the image of a dangerous killer with the length they took to hide their identity.

“I can create fire as hot as the surface of the sun,” the fire-snake quirk-user said. Deku couldn't make heads or tails of their gender from their voice alone. “You will all stand up and give me your money. Those who remain seated will die.”

Almost everyone stood up. Everyone except for Touma and his group. Touma didn't even acknowledge the fire-snake quirk-user. His eyes were focused on the burned corpse. “Othinus,” Touma said. “Make them shut up. And heal the victim afterwards.”

What? The victim was dead. Deku knew it. Their skin was charred. Burned flesh was visible underneath. Touma must be in denial. Deku gritted his teeth. He only took comfort in knowing this was the worst time and place for a robbery.

Othinus stood up. Unfurled her wings. Stepped out of the booth. The fire-snake quirk-user immediately created another snake. It struck Othinus, consuming her body.

And that was all it did. The flame washed over her. Under the fiery mouth of the fire snake, she remained unharmed. A soft gold glow grew stronger with every second. And then it burst into a blinding light.

Deku couldn't look away.

The fire-snake quirk-user was blown back, beyond the door, into the windshield of a Subaru across the street. They didn't get up. Deku heard a groan and was surprised from the source. The old man, the victim, gasped for breath. His wounds were gone. Even his clothes were fixed. He returned to his state before the fire snake consumed him.

“No way,” Deku said. “He was dead…” He shook his head in awe. To attack and heal at the same time was incredible.

“You're a hero!” a customer said, applauding Othinus. The crowd of people erupted into cheers. Othinus didn't shift from a poker face. The gold glow receded from overwhelming brightness into a tinge.

“Come on,” Touma said, leaving his booth. Deku, confused, followed him regardless. It wasn’t they did anything illegal. But Touma was probably worried about the image of his company or something rich kids like him think about like his reputation or his company’s shareholders. They moved as a group, Othinus to his left, Deku to his right. Accelerator, Mikoto and Index were behind them. People took pictures of their group. Others crowded around the Subaru the fire-snake quirk-user smashed into. A black van drove up from the street beside the sidewalk. They all got inside. And then it drove away. The driver was a beautiful blonde girl, with a voluptuous body, and starry eyes, wearing a blue cap, white blouse under a blue jacket, and black skirt. She glanced at Deku, white gloves covering the hands holding the gearshift and the steering wheel, and then returned her focus to the street ahead.

“Who was that guy?” Touma asked.

“Um, a robber?” Deku said. Touma shook his head.

“That guy was too powerful for petty robbery,” Touma said. He sat beside Deku, with Othinus to the other side. There was a second bench-seat facing them. Accelerator, Mikoto and Index sat there.

“Why did you leave?” Deku asked.

“I don't like media attention,” Touma said. How vague. He looked at each of them. “Sorry I dragged you four along.” He didn't include Othinus in the list. “I just panicked. Someone attacked us.”

‘So you prepared a driver for your escape?’ Deku wanted to ask. However, he didn't know if it was the same driver who brought them to Shiogami Park in the first place.

“It's fine,” Index said, reaching a hand to hold his. Touma squeezed back.

“So now what?” Accelerator asked, bored. “There's nothing to be afraid of, you realize.”

Mikoto scowled. “Stop being so insensitive.”

Deku agreed. Opting to change the subject, he said, “I didn't know you could heal too, Othinus.”

Othinus’ lips curled into a small smile. “I can do many things.”

“So, Midoriya-san,” Mikoto said, flashing Deku a grin. “Not bad for a first day getting to know us, huh?”

“Yeah.” It was full of surprises, that was for sure. Everyone took out their smartphones. Deku did the same. He was checking up news about the gruesome deaths of two people murdered by the same suspect. The first kill happened on a rooftop. The man was apparently cut in half from his head to his legs. Literally cut in half. The second victim lost his arm, and then his head. He was beheaded. The crimes were brutal, and the suspect, allegedly female and possessing cat ears, just walked away. There was a killer on the loose, and the authorities were unable to apprehend her.

Monsters, both of them. This ‘Cat Burglar’ as the authorities began calling her, and the fire-snake quirk-user. To have complete disregard for human life was appalling

“What's that you're reading?” Mikoto asked.

“Just some killer called the ‘Cat Burglar’”, Deku said. “I wish the heroes caught her already.”

Mikoto nodded. “Makes sense. Hey, let's change phone numbers.” She and Deku traded phones and typed their numbers in each other's contacts, before returning their phones to each other. “I'll message everyone else your number, Midoriya-san.”

And just like that, Deku received four new messages. ‘Odin here,’ a message read. ‘Aka Othinus.’ She waved. Another one read, ‘T.K.’ which were initials for Touma Kamijou. He gave a thumbs up. Another one read, ‘Index Librorum Prohibitorum.’ A joke on her own name. Index giggled. The last one read, ‘#1.’ Accelerator.

Deku saved all their numbers, and with the nicknames they gave themselves. The car stopped by a gas station, a candy store, and the local arcade. The gas station was simply logical. The car would run out of fuel soon. Afterwards the driver asked if it was okay to buy some sweets. She and Deku got out and bought for the entire group. She introduced herself as Misaki and made a playful smile. Then they stopped by the arcade for some relaxation.

Deku played lots of games. He scored basketballs through hoops, competing with Mikoto for points. And then he and Touma played an FPS game, shooting through zombies. He helped Index win a doll from a toy crane. He lost four coins and spent over fifteen minutes, but by the end he won her a stuffed whale. And then Misaki said she wanted one too, and so he spent another fifteen minutes winning her a stuffed bear. Othinus was raking up tickets everywhere. The tickets could be won through games or bought with arcade coins, which in turn are bought with real money. Othinus didn't need to spend more than four coins. She won them all. Accelerator was playing whack-a-mole. He was destroying all the moles. Deku played with him next. He had to a bit of his power to match Accelerator’s speed, and by the end he was still a point behind.

It was fun. He enjoyed hanging out with them. By the time they left the arcade it was 3:25 p.m.

They stopped by a burger shop. The group of seven, including himself, Touma, Othinus, Index, Mikoto, Misaki and Accelerator took two white tables placed side by side.

Deku was slightly tired. He wasn't as enthused by the prospect of eating, and they sure did that a lot, as he was the potential for sleeping. Touma ordered from the counter, and he and Accelerator carried trays back into the table, dividing the food among the seven of them. Deku only ate half of a burger and ten french fries. He sipped from the straw to some Coca-Cola, and then yawned. It was getting harder to keep his eyes open. He just wanted to sleep.

Fate, it seems, had other plans.

“This is a robbery!” a gruff voice shouted.

“Oh you've got to be kidding me,” Accelerator said. Deku agreed. His sleepiness vanished and he eyed the prospective criminals. There were two of them. They wore black leather jackets, denim pants, brown boots and black balaclavas covering their faces.

The robbers pointed their hands towards Touma's group. At Touma and Accelerator specifically. From one hand a blue energy ball flew forth towards Touma. From the other masked man a white bone spear shot out of his palm, sailing towards Accelerator. Touma and Accelerator swung their right hands. The blue energy ball shattered upon impact on Touma's hand. The bone white spear hit Accelerator’s hand and then flew back to its owner, impaling their left knee. Deku reached for the nearest table and threw it to the other prospective robber. The table struck their head. They fell to the floor. The masked man with an impaled leg cried in anguish. Blood sprayed from his wound.

Deku shook his head. So Accelerator could return an attack to its owner? A useful quirk, that was for sure. Touma must’ve been protected by Othinus’ forcefield. He wondered if Othinus would heal the impaled robber. Apparently not, given how she gazed at the masked man with disinterest.

“Those who enact violence should be prepared to receive violence,” she said. And then took a bite of her french fry. She chewed, swallowed, and smiled.

“Are we going to drive off again?” Deku asked in a slightly whiny voice. He couldn’t help it. He didn’t feel like getting out again. The person behind the counter called the cops.

“No,” Touma said. “Might as well get used to it. Besides.” He inspected the burger shop. “There aren’t that many customers.” The police arrived two minutes later. They took one glance at the impaled robber and called the ambulance. A white van with a red cross on its side arrived a minute after that. Two paramedics came out with a stretcher, moved the impaled robber on the stretcher and carried him out. The police then took the other robber and pushed him to the back of the police vehicle.  The media emerged like sharks getting a whiff of blood. No less than ten vans arrived. Reporters and their cameramen began interviewing the police officers and the pedestrians who ‘witnessed’ the scene.

“We bring you in live in what appears to be another foiled robbery for the second time in a row today, and in a stunning coincidence it was the same people who saved the day!” The reporter, a woman in her late twenties, approached Touma and the others. “How does it feel to have saved all those people?”

“It felt great,” Touma said. “Glad we could be of help.” Deku stared at the camera until Mikoto nudged his shoulder. Reporters shot the group question after question. Most of which were responded to with a, ‘no comment.’ When a reporter turned to Deku, he froze. He was very shy. Unable to answer, he could only stammer an attempt at a reply before Mikoto dragged him to the back of the group.

“Thank you. That’ll be all.” Touma led the group back into their van. This time it was Accelerator who took the wheel. He sat beside Deku on his right, with Mikoto on his left. Index, Misaki and Othinus faced them. They all looked at him. He squirmed under the attention of so many attractive women. “So, Deku, did you enjoy that?” Touma asked. “The media, I mean.”

“Well, they were just asking questions, right? It didn’t hurt to fill them in on some stuff.”

“Touma has what you call an aversion to attention,” Mikoto said. “The opposite of an attention whore, basically.” Othinus laughed. Touma frowned. Index took out two chocolate lollipops from her coat pocket and handed one to Misaki.

“I remember back then, and did it feel like a looong time ago, Touma saved my skin from an explosion. Instead of having everyone acknowledge him as the hero who saves the day, he just gave me all the credit and left. Never felt right.” Mikoto looked up the ceiling, or maybe beyond it, into the past. And then she poked Touma’s shoulder. “But that’s my nostalgia talking.” She gazed out the window. He caught glimpses of what she was looking at. A girl with cat ears walked her golden retriever by a leash. She met up with a boy with dog ears carrying a black cat. They chatted and entered a cafe. Deku tilted his head. He wondered how the relationship dynamics between those two worked. Compared to him, Mikoto had a dreamy smile.

“Tell me more about him,” Deku said. Touma didn’t seem to mind when Index joined in and gave her own colorful opinions of him cooking her food in exchange for leaving her alone in his room while he goes to school, although he did get increasingly flustered when Accelerator jumped into the chat and told the tales of Touma’s heroic exploits, and then Othinus sealed the deal claiming she wants to be Touma’s slave as an apology for all the times she beat him up, which made Touma cry in anguish. She ignored him, telling Deku how she asked him as such, and he declined and settled for having her be his girlfriend.

What a weird group of friends, Deku thought.

OoO

It was 5:36 p.m. when they reached their final destination. It was a bar. Deku looked worried, probably assuming a scenario where the older kids would goad the younger one into drinking beer. Touma assured him they weren’t going to do something that stupid because that would lead to an immediate expulsion from the school he was applying to and it would ruin his image, playing into Deku’s assumption that he was some sort of bigshot.

It was when Deku went to the candy store with Misaki that Othinus explained how the young boy saw Touma as. The jumps were ridiculous. The wrong conclusions from wrong assumptions drew a funny picture that almost made him laugh. But instead he could only shake his head and sigh.

The bar was there for Touma to unwind. He explained to Deku that he just wanted to relax. And after his girlfriend a beer was the next best thing. Deku didn’t understand, of course, being a little too young for the more mature topics Touma wanted to talk about. And talking to Accelerator was out of the question. So here Touma was, sitting on a barstool by the counter holding a brown bottle of beer. He took a sip of the beer. It was bitter and tasted like yeast. When he finished the bottle was sporting a slight buzz. It wasn’t enough, but it was a start.

He was glad Index and the others found him, but a part of Touma assumed he and Othinus would be stuck on this world forever. They were alone, aliens from another world, with no one to rely on but each other, trust each other, and love each other. And they would consummate that love in a night of burning passion, with Touma dominating her completely.

But now that Index and the others were here, he was troubled with the idea of returning to his world. He wanted to go back and return to his life, but he also wanted to stay and live a romantic fantasy with Othinus.

It weighted at him. His selfishness. But he didn’t care. Not if it meant forsaking the dreamy life he's been living with Othinus. He was preparing for the eventuality he'd have to say goodbye to Mikoto and the others. He'll ask Index to stay, of course. They needed each other. And she had no family while he didn't even remember the bonds he'd forged with his own.

Speaking of Othinus, he was a little weirded out by her request not to have media attention. He didn’t really mind, but he felt a little stupid when Deku questioned him in regards to that, putting him on the spot. He made excuses on the fly and to his surprise Mikoto and the others unhelpfully played along.

He didn’t understand why Othinus didn’t want media attention. She could just make them go away if she tried. But for some odd reason she’s not using her power to her full potential. That or she couldn’t. She hasn’t been the same since they’ve entered this world.

He looked at a t.v. mounted on the wall behind the counter. It was the news reporting about the killer ‘Cat Burglar’. Two reporters, a man and a woman, were speaking about the danger this new criminal posed and how the authorities should hurry up and stop her. They criticized the heroes, pointing out a bunch of kids managed to foil two robberies. They went on about the worrying rise of crime in the past few days and hoping it wasn’t a sign of something worse.

Touma doubted it. He ordered another bottle. The barkeep slid one across the countertop. “I’ve heard about you,” the barkeep said, striking a conversation. Oh really? What wonderful exploits did Othinus construct this time? “You’re that kid, right? The one with the jojo quirk?”

“Jojo what?” Touma guzzled his beer.

“It’s an anime from the past. Nothing important. But the thing is.” The barkeep pointed at Othinus, who held a mug of ale. She was with the rest of the crew seated by a table on the back of the bar making a racket daring Deku to take a vodka shot. Touma almost choked on his drink. Bad influence. They were all bad influence. And Deku was feeling the peer pressure if his flustered appearance was anything to go by.

“Relax,” the barkeep said, just as Touma was about to stand up. When Deku took the shot, he was surprised and looked at the shot glass, before the others erupted in laughs. “It’s just water.”

“How distasteful,” Touma said, narrowing his eyes at his ‘friends’. Mikoto was a minor herself, and Index was similar. He didn’t know about Misaki, and had doubts about Mikoto claiming they were classmates, but Accelerator should really know better. The only one he imagined capable of pulling a cruel prank was Othinus, and given her relationship with the others, which was basically nonexistent, none of them would’ve played along. But now Touma knew better and saw the other side of his companions.

“Well, can’t blame them,” the barkeep said. He was using a white glass drying towel to dry a washed glass cup. “To continue our conversation, your quirk is incredibly fascinating in the sense we haven’t quite seen something like it. She’s fully capable of thought, right? There are similar quirks that summon other creatures to fight for their summoner, but they’re more like puppets and the quirk users their puppeteers. You’re the first with an independent quirk capable of thinking for herself.”

Somehow Touma doubted it. He read somewhere on the internet that around eighty-percent of the world’s population possessed quirks. There was bound to be someone similar, just undocumented, or hiding the real potential of their abilities. He’d seen it before in Academy City. Most espers liked to boast about how much stronger their psychic powers were than it actually is, but there are others. More dangerous espers that downplayed their capabilities and then struck when the opponent was caught unaware. They’re few and far between, but they exist.

And they were very dangerous.

Ironically, the level 5’s Mikoto and Accelerator fit in that category. Mikoto due to being humble, and Accelerator due to being so sure of his power he never needed to boast to prove himself.

It wasn’t limited to espers.

Othinus used the same schemes, after all. During the war on terror on Gremlin, Othinus threw distraction after distraction on all the world’s nations, from the U.S. to Europe and then on the waters of Japan, she made her enemies focus on one thing while she worked on another. And she created such a scenario that no matter what happened she would come out the victor and smelling like roses.

Touma bore witness to the horrifying conclusion of her schemes and saw first-hand the destruction of the universe.

He shivered. Squeezed his bottle. Finished his drink. The liquid courage made him forget, at least for the moment, the codependent parts of his relationship with Othinus, and he focused on what the barkeep said.

“Sometimes I feel she’s not even my quirk,” Touma said, which made sense, because she wasn’t. She wasn’t his quirk, his projection, his ‘jojo’ or whatever fun nicknames people had for superpowers. He missed the clinical description of Academy City for psychic abilities. Some names for superpowers in this world were too colorful for his liking.

“I feel ya man,” the barkeep said with a jovial laugh. “Sometimes I think my wife is a little wild too.”

Touma’s cheeks warmed. And not just from the alcohol. Okay, it was mostly from the alcohol. But it was also due to the barkeep’s implication that Othinus was controlling. She was the exact opposite, actually. Incredibly submissive, especially in bed, and Touma had conflicting feelings when it came to that side of his girlfriend.

He shook his head. “Too much information,” he told the barkeep. “What’s your quirk, anyway?”

“Changing the subject? It’s not everyday we get a celebrity in our establishment, you know?”

“Celebrity?” When did that happen?

“People assume you’re going to be the next big thing since All Might. There was that one guy, Captain Celebrity or whoever, another American, but having an actual Japanese succeed All Might is plenty intriguing on its own.”

Captain Celebrity was a hero who began operating in Japan a few years back after he was kicked out of the United States for being too promiscuous. Touma read about him too. He used to work with a group of vigilantes despite being a professional hero, an actual job in this world. Touma agreed. If people not of this world like Othinus and Accelerator were removed, Captain Celebrity could’ve been of a similar status to All Might.

“Have you seen Othinus?” Touma asked. “She’s the one doing the heavy lifting, not me. And she’s as nordic as they come.”

“Nordic?”

“Northern Europe? Scandinavia? Finland? The Faroe Islands?” He shrugged. “What I meant is, Othinus is going to be the one in the limelight, not me. I’ll just be that guy who summoned her.” And it wasn’t even his actual power. Touma saw the stronger villains in this world. Superhuman speed was part of their arsenal like it was normal, and he wasn’t sure he was up to task battling monsters like that. In all his fights with Accelerator he always got lucky. He didn’t want to risk that luck fighting more criminals.

“You may have a point,” the barkeep said. “Still, it’s a start.”

“What about that Endeavor guy?” Touma asked. He was a pyrokinetic too. Based on Touma’s experience with fire-manipulators, they were all hot-blooded and immensely impulsive. Sure, they could do an analysis of the battlefield and make the right choice if the situation called for it, but not often.

“Endeavor? He might be ranked second beneath All Might, but he pales in comparison to the sheer weight All Might’s very presence brings. A shame the focus will be on your stand indeed, but she is quite a beauty I wouldn’t mind watching.” It seems the barkeep had a bit of national pride, hampered by what Touma assumed was a perverted side to him. But there was one thing that bothered him.

Stand? Was it related to this ‘jojo’ by any chance? Whatever. It was none of his business. Seemingly satisfied with the discussion, the barkeep focused on other customers.

“Shocu, please.” A calm voice ordered as they took a seat beside Touma. It came from a man in a business suit, looking haggard. His long hair was tied into a ponytail. Under his spectacles his eyes were half-open, tired and flat. He glanced at Touma and sighed. “Hey. Aren’t you a little too young to be drinking?”

“Mind your own business, old man,” Touma shot back. He grimaced. The alcohol was getting to him. “Whoops. Sorry about that. I’m getting a buzz.”

The haggard-looking businessman nodded. The barkeep took out a bottle of Shocu, a glass cup, and poured the distilled spirit into the cup, serving it to the businessman. Shocu was commonly made from short-grained Japanese-style rice, sweet potatoes and sugar cane. It was usually accompanied by oolong tea, but the businessman declined the tea. Despite being a nationwide drink, Shocu was at its height of popularity in Kyushu. Even in this world that remained the same.

The businessman tasted his drink, held his cup and looked at the t.v. The news transferred to the fire-snake quirk-user Othinus defeated and the two robbers Accelerator and Deku incapacitated. The two robbers were being housed in a hospital near the police station. Policemen and professional heroes monitored them. The fire-snake quirk-user was in a prisoner transport vehicle and was going to be transferred to Tartarus, a prison designed for villains that deserve worse than the death penalty. It turns out the fire-snake quirk-user killed a lot of people and collected their fingernails. They found the evidence after learning the serial killer’s identity, investigating their house, and finding a ziploc plastic back with fingernails which were taken by the forensic analysts and found matching the identities of over forty missing people. Horrifying.

“I have to admit, you did good work,” the businessman said. “You’re a hard man to find, Kamijou Touma.” Touma paused. This person knew who he was? He was tempted to ask him how he knew, but decided to keep quiet to prevent himself from saying something stupid. He drank his beer and decided to see where this goes. “I don’t know how you evaded heroes the first two times you’ve intercepted criminal activities, but there isn’t going to be a third.”

‘I didn’t even do anything. It was all Othinus. Go interrogate her,’ he wanted to say, but couldn’t because he feared Othinus would become ‘playful’ again, and not the fun kind. She had aspects of every Aesir in the Norse pantheon, considering she was all of them, and being mischievous was the last thing he needed. Why was he getting dragged into this?

OoO

Aizawa Shota, professionally known as the hero Eraserhead, was sent by someone in the higher ups to investigate the mysterious man known only as Kamijou Touma. Until a day ago, he wasn’t even in U.A.’s radar. Until only less than a week ago, he didn’t even exist.

And he managed to evade approaching pro heroes, no matter how close they’ve come to reaching him. There was some sort of quirk at work, Aizawa was sure. One of his companions, either the silver-haired girl or the one with starry eyes, they were likely the ones detecting the other quirk-users.

“They’re watching you,” came a voice from his skin colored earpiece. He had an ally in the bar, one keeping tabs on Touma's coterie. For what else could they be but the clique of a rich man?

So they've noticed him already? That was despite Aizawa not even looking at Touma. Impressive. Eighty-percent of the population possessed quirks, which meant whatever detecting method they're using was accurate enough to detect pro heroes specifically.

And they were all under the control of this man. A ghost. No doubt they were attempting to recruit the new student Midoriya Izuku into their group to have an ally inside U.A. High School.

Aizawa was one of the observers of the exam which Touma participated in. He witnessed the bored expression and the apathetic manner of the person sitting next to him and came to the conclusion he was dangerous.

There was no interest in the fight, or the exam. He probably only gave the other students a chance to battle his quirk so he could analyze their abilities.

His quirk. The shapeshifting projection with wings and a halo reminiscent of an angel. Just the other day she had gold skin with white glowing veins and white fire coming out of her left eye. The malleable appearance was likely due to her nature as a mental projection obtaining access into the physical realm but unbound by its rules. She was a different race altogether.

Aizawa wondered what would happen if he used his quirk on this man. Would the projection just pop out of existence? Would she remain anchored to this world even with her creator being deprived of their quirk?

Aizawa's quirk was called Erasure. He could nullify his target’s quirk by looking at them. It had drawbacks. One prerequisite was maintaining eye-contact, and if he blinked or if his vision was obstructed his quirk would lose its effect. But at this close a range he doubted those drawbacks would occur.

He didn't do it, of course. A lot of heroes are unusually invested in this man, which tripped the alarms in his head. Something behind the scenes was occurring and he was being kept uninformed.

“Who are you?” Touma asked, not recognizing him. Aizawa smirked. Despite being a hero, he took great lengths to be kept out of the limelight. He took it further today by changing his appearance completely. Without the obvious signs of his costume he could blend with the public and be left unnoticed.

He normally didn't need to, but something about this man told his instincts to keep his distance as much as possible. Which was a shame, because he risked compromising that by appearing in this bar. But his efforts paid off.

He tracked down Kamijou Touma by using a private investigator to follow Touma and his crew. He made a mental note to add Midoriya in that list, and to see if he could dig up a background check on the others. The private detective was lurking outside the hotel bought from a shell company that led back to Touma's name. It was the latest in a number of hotels bought in a short amount of time, researched through various articles that were very hard to find. When the detective found Touma and his crew loading into a van, he followed them. He kept his distance, observing them meet up with Midoriya, likely due to Touma desiring to recruit the boy, and then witnessing the crew display their powers. The brown haired girl was an electrokinetic. The silver haired girl possessed wings and could fly. From what he gleaned from the owner of the burger shop, the albino could redirect physical objects. And Touma blocked an energy ball with his right hand, likely due to his projection's power at work. By process of elimination that left either the projection or the star eyes to possess the detection quirk. And so far all of the projection’s abilities were physical in nature, in the sense they all interacted with the physical world. She could create forcefields and energy beams, and even alter her physical shape, but none of that altered the human mind.

It had to be the star eyes girl. Aizawa felt smug knowing everything about Touma and his crew, while Touma knew nothing about him. He was in control of the situation and not the other way around.

He was a pro.

He ignored Touma's question. Said, “I'm curious as to your plans. Buying a lot of hotels and then participating in the entrance exam of U.A. just as you've made your latest acquisition? If you pay the right people, you wouldn't even need to work to become a pro. If I had to guess, you're scoping the other students.” It was the only thing that made sense. If he wanted to graduate he could simply enroll in a different school less scrutinized than U.A. Or if he really wanted to remain mysterious then enroll in schools from North America or Europe. Private schools for the rich exist even for professional heroes, to his distaste. But such is life. Why did this one make their life here?

Aizawa mentioned his knowledge about the newly bought hotels to throw off Touma, surprise him. But to his slight annoyance Touma remained detached.

“I wish I could be whatever idea you're thinking in your head,” Touma said, turning to Aizawa. “But I'm not, sir.”

Sir? Did he know? Aizawa wasn't sure. He narrowed his eyes. Touma stood up and went to his allies. Either to regroup and strategize their response to Aizawa or leave immediately.

“Get out of there,” his ally said. He left his seat immediately. Didn't even finish his drink. Just left the bar and crossed the street into his car, and then drove off.

That was too close.

Still, spywork was pretty fun. Touma didn't know it, but he was observed by powerful people that could shake this country to its core. He was in a precarious situation, and one misstep could be his downfall.

The harder they are the greater they fall. And with his stunt at the exam, his vigilante acts and his predatory attempt at being monopolistic with his buying multiple hotels meant he was running a scheme, a large one. Too bad it drew the attention of nosy neighbors.

OoO

“Touma, give me some sugar.”

Touma hissed, warning her to back off. Othinus sat on their bed, using a wide pink tooth comb to brush her hair, dressed in a pink negligee. Othinus’ legs were bare. The negligee was tight around her body, accentuating her slender form. Her position didn’t help in lessening her beauty. She was everything he wanted rolled into one.

Touma wore blue boxer shorts and white shirt. He held his smartphone to his ear, talking to Deku. They drove him back to his house, and made him promise to call any of them if ever he needed someone to talk to. Deku’s expression, barely withholding a cry as he smiled was the purest thing Touma’s ever seen. Right after Index.

After he finished his talk, the phone flew from his hand and clung to the ceiling. Othinus purred and crawled towards the end of the bed, a meter from where he stood. “Let’s go to bed already.” Her teasing smile mixed with genuine love from her voice and eyes. Touma almost gave in. But they needed to talk about unwanted eyes. That stranger at the bar weirded him out so he decided to stay with his group. They stayed in the bar for another forty minutes, leaving after they've all had dinner.

“I love you,” she said, and his resistance shattered. He lost control and grabbed her shoulders, pushing her back to the bed. He leaned for a kiss. Othinus’ delighted expression, her licking her lips, her sprawled legs, and her hands eager to remove his shirt was too much for Touma. He couldn’t help himself and smashed his lips to hers.

OoO

Aizawa stood across the street from the dreaded ‘Cat Burglar’.

Cold dread filled his chest, spreading like a web. The vehicle the pyrokinetic villain who attacked the restaurant earlier was destroyed. Cut in half. The villain’s body was also cut in half. The upper half was five meters to the Cat Burglar's left, and the lower half was nowhere to be seen.

The Cat Burglar wore a black bodysuit, a hood covering the back of her head, and cat ears poking from the hood. She held a whip that wrapped around her slender leg. A domino mask covered her face.

“Human, I have no quarrel with you,” she said, sounding bored even as she spoke to him. There was another body between them. That of the policeman monitoring the villain. “He is alive, as are all the others. You need not follow their path. This man I killed was a sinner. The bowels of Tartarus are not enough to punish him, as is the one from this earth. Goodbye.”

Homicidal murderer piece of shit. Aizawa was on his way to accompany the police and other heroes in transferring the villain when he found this. “You think just because people are crooks gives you the right to kill them?”

“No. Being me gives me the right to kill them.” She smirked. There was no empathy. Just satisfaction at taking lives. It made his blood boil. The whip unwrapped from her leg and she struck the air with a whiplash. Stupid girl. He was going to remove her powers and beat her unconscious.

Aizawa removed his eyeglasses and cracked his knuckles. “You're going to jail,” he said. He activated his power. Before the battle began the victor was already decided. His eyes glowed red.


	3. Chapter 3

This was five hours before the encounter between Aizawa Shouta, also known as the pro hero Eraserhead, and the serial killer and self proclaimed vigilante Cat Burglar, whose true identity is that of Othinus.

Othinus, possessed magic, which supplemented by the spiritual item the lance of Gungnir, could make anything she put her thought through have a one-hundred-percent chance of success.

She created a second body to control. It did not have the problems of splitting her attention, for the second body also possessed a functional brain. She was merely in two places at once.

She could achieve anything with her magic, but decided not to alter the world too much. She instead created familiars, some of which were Touma's companion, and others entities from the Norse pantheon, all of which serve her as their one true master.

She stayed in a different hotel, this one closer to U.A. in the commercial district of the city of Musutafu.

Orange light from a fireplace illuminated the dark room. A bear skin rug was between the fireplace and a cozy red armchair. Seated on the armchair was Othinus, in her second body, wearing a small silky red robe, her gold-like blonde hair damp, and her skin moist from having just finished taking a shower.

Two ravens perched on her shoulders. Huginn and Muninn are gatherers of information which is then whispered to her ears. They have been observing the city, the country, the world. Everyday they would fly across the seas to gather every little trickle of knowledge they think would be useful for their master. For now, however, she commanded them to observe solely Musutafu district and persons of interest.

“The tea is ready, madam,” a voice said in a respecting tone. The speaker was a devilishly handsome servant, with black hair, red eyes, and pale skin. He donned a butler's outfit: black trousers, a six-button double-breasted tailcoat, and a gray vest. His hands, covered in white gloves, held a tray under cloche. He held the handle of the silver dome and raised it, revealing a white teacup with a small plate beneath it. The teacup’s contents were brown green tea and a gold leaf that floated on its surface.

“Thank you, Hel.” She removed the gold, left it on the small plate, held the teacup to her lips and took a sip of her tea. She sighed, crossed her slender legs and leaned back against the chair.

Hel was a name based on a being from Norse mythology that possessed a domain of the same name. In Poetic Edda, Hel was a woman and the daughter of Loki. In Gylfaginning she was appointed by Odin to rule the realm of the afterlife.

This version was related to neither. It was Othinus’ own spin on the concept, mixing Norse mythology with those of Christianity and Catholicism to create a being that had traits from all three. There was one consistency. It was always related to death.

All her familiars, be it the replicas of Touma's friends, her own companions taken straight from the myths of nordic lore, shared two things in common. They possessed a background, personalities, memories and abilities from a past that was never theirs, making them perfect imitations of their origins, and they served her completely.

Hel didn't have the former, although as her familiar he too viewed serving her as his highest priority. Hel knew only darkness, and then the light that is her magic.

Her familiars could be divided into two forms. Copies from other works, or original works of her own. Still, the difference was minor. Hel possessed a personality like everyone else.

“Hel, I have informed you of my other familiars, your siblings in a sense, and their mission to be with Touma. What are the chances he learns they are not the real ones?”

Othinus sipped her tea while Hel rubbed his chin in thought. Finally, he smiled. “Zero.”

“And why is that?”

“Sir Touma's abilities do not work on us, although the methods as to why elude me. The others are replicas of his friends with perfect memories, mannerisms and personalities to fall back on. They also share the same feelings as the originals, although it can be superseded by your commands, which can make them seem out of character if you ordered a more innocent familiar into killing others, which is not something the original would do. But that is under the false assumption my god makes such minor mistakes. Heretical just speaking about. Unless you will it so, there is no reason at all sir Touma will learn of your deception, my lady.”

He was quite talkative. Othinus finished her tea by the time he was done. She just wanted a simple explanation. Not an extrapolation.

She was slightly worried he might notice some inconsistencies. They were to befriend Midoriya Izuku to make him easier to control. Based on her Huginn and Muninn, Deku was bullied since he was a child, ostracized and picked upon. He was starved for affection, and she would give him exactly that. Her familiars would become his best friends outside school, and her and Touma inside it, making the paths he would choose easily influenced by her directly, and through the others indirectly.

All her familiars were given the command to protect Touma from harm, and if there is danger they could not overcome, prioritize his safety over their own.

Touma was probably noticing some inconsistencies between his companions and how they were treating Deku. She decided later on she would tell them to ease up and give the child some space.

She was a little irked by the ants that dared disturb her time with Touma, and decided she would kill one of them. The teacup left her hands. It flew towards the tray her demon butler held. Her ravens flew from her shoulders, and she stood up. She left the room to get changed.

OoO

“I will not hurt you,” the Cat Burglar said. “Not too much, at least,” she added in a teasing tone. Aizawa swore and jumped to his side, dodging the whip that struck the black surface of the asphalt road. He ducked under another attack which struck a car behind him, a black Toyota Camry, hitting the outside mirror, cracking it. A third swing whipped low, aiming for his legs. He jumped, and it sweeped beneath him, hitting the street light instead.

Aizawa was at a disadvantage. Even without her powers the Cat Burglar still possessed a weapon and he did not. Spywork had its disadvantages, it seems. He wished he brought his restraining bolts. The capturing weapon could have made things more even between them.

“Why are you not using your quirk?” the Cat Burglar asked, postponing her attack. The whip lazily curled on the sidewalk beside her. In front of her the unconscious policeman's fingers twitched. They were gaining consciousness.

She was feeling talkative. That would be her downfall.

He didn't know if she was genuinely unaware of his power, or if she was just being sarcastic, but chose to humor her. “I already am.” It was his turn. “Why did you kill them, Cat Burglar?” Aizawa asked. He was trying to buy time. He wanted her to monologue, a villain cliche, until either the policeman awoke so they could fight her two on one, or until reinforcements arrived. He didn't know what happened to the other cops, but hoped they were alright.

“They were trash. Everyone I kill is. What is your quirk?” So they were playing the game give and take. He could work with that.

“I can erase the quirks of those I look at. Who were those people you killed on the rooftop and the alley?” He waited for an answer, but for some reason she paused and stared at him. “What? Feeling regret over your murders? If you surrender we could reduce your sentence,” he lied.

“No. It's just that I know someone who has a similar ability. This discussion is over.” He felt something wrap around his leg. The whip coiled like an anaconda from his shin, calf, and knee.

She was immune to his quirk. Of all the abilities she possessed, she had that? He didn't even notice her whip moving. Of course, just as he distracted her, she was distracting him. “I changed my mind,” Cat Burglar said. “This'll hurt.” He tried prying her whip from his leg, but it gave a squeeze that him bite back a scream and fall to his knee.

Cat Burglar threw her whip back behind and above her, carrying Aizawa's body along for the ride, and then she threw the whip forward, to the Toyota Camry. His back struck  the roof, denting it. He felt his bones crack. He was thrown again. He struck the windshield, shattering it as he fell inside. The wipers poked his back. Glass shards dug into his skin. His face struck the steering wheel, the gearshift, and then the floor. He was pulled out of the car and thrown a third time, hitting the hood. He coughed blood. The fourth and final throw broke his spine against the door of the car. He fell down. Blood trickled from his forehead, filtering the world red.

So this was how he was going to die, huh? Caught by surprise. Cat Burglar tilted her head and withdrew her whip, uncoiling it from his leg. She approached him. He groaned, lost the power to open his eyes, and finally fell into darkness.

What bad luck.

OoO

The knife brothers were hit men working for a mysterious employer. They were given an offer to a job when they were younger, and it was explained later on had they declined the job the one who gave them work would've simply looked for someone else.

The knife brothers usually hit other criminals or politicians that negatively affected their employers goals. They didn't take credit for their works. If they kill other crooks, they don't leave anything tracing the kill back to them. If they killed a politician, they make it look like an accident.

The knife brothers didn't use their quirks much. It was too unique. They preferred guns, poison and good old fashioned physical violence.

Their employer usually gave them a name and a place. They never kill heroes. It would bring too much heat. It was the same reason politicians were never picked unless they were sure it wouldn't lead back to them. Their latest target was slightly problematic for that reason.

The knife brothers receive half the payment of a job immediately, and the other half after they've done their work. They had the option to decline, and almost wished they did. Not because they were afraid of their target, but because a vigilante was slightly more difficult to find. There exist a subset of quirk users nearly impossible to trace due to the nature of their abilities. Invisible to sight, sound, and electronic surveillances make those quirk users useful allies and dangerous enemies.

The Cat Burglar was not one of them. She was just annoying due to her disappearing act after each kill.

The knife brothers observed from the rooftop of a nearby building that gave a good vantage point of the battle that took place below.

The Cat Burglar had taken down every police officer, without killing them, but massacred every inmate in Musutafu police station jail. They knew because their inside man was screaming in panic in a burner phone used to call them in case something interesting came up, telling them at the top of his voice that their latest target was beating all the policemen unconscious. Sounds of screams and gunfire followed, and then silence.

They arrived immediately. They snuck up inside a building in their civilian form, explaining to the tenants that they were trying to hide from the attention of the dangerous criminal Cat Burglar, and the landlord let them in.

Cat Burglar was about to leave the area when she realized there was another criminal hidden in one of their police vehicles. She tore it apart, dragged the policeman by wrapping her whip around his shoulder and throwing him behind hers, and then cut the prisoners in two. Eraserhead arrived then and the one-sided fight ensued.

The older knife brother lowered his binoculars with a detached look in his face. He was a plain Japanese man, slightly smaller than his younger brother, and wearing a white shirt under a black jacket, trousers and shoes.

The younger knife brother stood behind him. He was slightly handsome, slightly taller than his older brother, and wore a brown trench coat, black shirt, denim pants and rubber shoes.

They nodded. The younger brother extracted a phone from his pocket to call a number of their associate. Bloodhound was the moniker they've given their associate due to the nature of their quirk. Bloodhound could track down anyone in the world so long as they possess a picture of the target. The younger brother snapped a photo of Cat Burglar sent it to the Bloodhound, and then left the rooftop as the Cat Burglar walked away. On their way out the lobby to the street a raven cawed at them. They shooed it away and entered their stolen vehicle.

The Cat Burglar might be strong against Eraserhead, but the knife brothers possessed something he did not. The element of surprise. When they plunge their knives in her back, the Cat Burglar wouldn't even see it coming.

But for now they observed.

OoO

All Might arrived at the scene of the crime. Others heroes were there, keeping the media away from the crime scene. The heroes were out in force. He made a nod to Endeavor, who was exerting flames as he glared at the reporters before him from where he stood on the sidewalk, his back to the police station and facing the street.

“I've contacted someone I believe could help,” the anthropomorphic mouse Nezu said, as he emerged from the police station. “That Cat Burglar did a number on those cops. Poor guys, the prisoners jailed inside. They're all dead.”

All Might grimaced. “How many?”

“Twenty-three.”

“And Eraserhead?”

“Unconscious. Broken shoulders, bones protruding from his elbows, dislocated arms, legs bent sideways and spine shattered. Bruised cheeks, cut forehead. We fear there might be some brain damage.” Nezu was straight to the point. He turned to Endeavor. “What do you think?”

“She's dangerous. We should issue a manhunt. She might be the next Stain or All For One in our hands.”

“We underestimated her,” Nezu said. All Might agreed. What they assumed was a petty killer just took down one of their peers.

“So you called Recovery Girl?”

“No.” Nezu took out his phone showed them a picture. “Them.”

“I see.” Endeavor nodded. All Might agreed. He heard about their abilities. The pair were already assumed to be the next pro heroes in the making.

“Our new students, then? What a bad first meeting.”

OoO

“Did you hear about what happened to Eraserhead!?” Deku asked. For the fifth time that day, for the umpteenth time that week. They were finally going to school. Touma and Othinus picked up Deku from his home and introduced themselves to his mother Inko, who was overjoyed her son would go to school with his ‘good friends’. Apparently Deku talked a lot about them. They hanged out every single day since the time at the bar, and it was fun. But with how red Deku was when his mom began gushing about him gushing about them, it was a little embarrassing.

The male uniforms consisted of a white button-up shirt under a full-length jacket, a red necktie, green pants and brown shoes. For the girls it was similar except for a green skirt replacing the pants. All three donned their respective uniforms. Touma found it cute how the school made Othinus wear a uniform too, as if considering her a student as well.

She took her angelic form: white wings, white flaming halo, and a soft gold glow. She and Touma sat on one side of the bench-seat and Deku sat on the other facing them, with all the space for himself. “I know,” Deku said. “But still!”

Eraserhead was attacked by the ‘Cat Burglar’, someone who calls herself a vigilante and is officially labeled a villain under the eyes of the law. It was so bad Touma volunteered himself and Othinus for the role of helping Eraserhead and the wounded officers, although she vehemently refused to fix the dead villain. He didn’t force the issue. He wasn’t going to go out of his way to bring back a serial killer. All the wounded were gathered in one large hospital room and then the couple followed. Whatever damage was inflicted upon Eraserhead was removed with a simple snap of the finger, creating a burst of light enveloping all the innocent victims from Cat Burglar’s attack. But Othinus insisted it be kept a secret. That was the deal she brokered from the government in exchange for her and Touma’s help. They agreed, made a contract, and even offered to give them money as a reward. Touma declined, because they were already rich, and instead just warned them not to leak the information to the public like what happened to the entrance exam.

That was also when they met All Might.

The van parked outside the school gates. Deku was the first one to get out, followed by Touma, and then Othinus. She told Misaki to pick them up later, which was answered with a, “Kay,” and a lazy smile. Misaki drove off, and the three went to class.

What Touma mistook for two buildings was actually four, all connected by skyways. It was an impressive sight. And for new students it might be the most impressive thing they’ve ever seen. But Touma bet they’ve never seen the surface of the moon before it crushed them either. He experienced that firsthand, in addition to being on stepped on by a giant robot and being eaten by cannibals. When it came to horrifying experiences Touma felt he had seniority.

“Touma, Touma!” Deku repeated his name, sounding like Index. He frowned at the similarity. Was Deku going to be the Index of his class? That was a disturbing thought.

“What?” Touma asked.

Deku shook his head. “Just wondering if you’re feeling nervous.”

Othinus snorted. “I’ll have you know Touma is the most shameless man I’ve had the pleasure of meeting.” Deku laughed. Touma covered his face with his left hand.

“Thanks for the compliment, Othinus.” His voice dripped with sarcasm. They took a door to the southeastern-most building, climbed up multiple stairs, followed confusing directions from their seniors, and travel northeast, through multiple steps of stairs, northwest, up and down various elevators, and finally southwest to the building to the left of the one they went into, going full circle and wasting a whole lot of time talking and laughing, mostly at Touma’s expense. He was the butt-end of many jokes, and Othinus loved mocking him. He hit back as much as possible, but her wit was too sharp and eventually he was left gaping and speechless.

They stopped before a large door. The number ‘1’ and the letter ‘A’ were painted on its surface vertically, one after the other. They stepped forward and opened the door. They found ‘Kacchan’ and examinee seven-one-one-one arguing with each other. Kacchan had his feet on his desk, and examinee seven-one-one-one was lecturing him to remove his foot from the desk, the action apparently being insulting to the former students of U.A. and the desk’s craftsmen. The class was noisy, as is fitting for high school, with students getting to know each other and making friends with those that click. There were nineteen students, excluding Touma and Deku, already in the room, which was strange. From what Deku told him, only one in three hundred applicants got in per year. Thirty-six students divided into two classes, meaning eighteen heads total. Counting Othinus and Touma as one, there were twenty-one students in the classroom. It was probably from all the students the school was forced to pass.

“Hey boys~” Othinus’ presence brought silence into the room. Only briefly. Then it broke into noise. Some people went to her, introducing themselves. Others spoke to Touma. Glanced at Deku. Kacchan scowled at Othinus, but when she met his glare he was the first to look away. Examinee seven-one-one-one, Iida Tenya, nodded at Touma and then left Kacchan’s table, finding him a lost cause. The door opened. Another student, the victor examinee, Uraraka Ochako arrived, made a friendly wave to Othinus, Touma and Deku, and then followed Iida, the two striking a friendly discussion.

Iida returned. He was gifted with a tall and muscular physique under his uniform. “Kamijou-san, is it? And Othinus-san?”

“You can call me god,” Othinus quipped with a straight face. Iida laughed, under the mistaken assumption she was joking.

“I must say your display of power during the examination was astounding,” Iida said.

“Thanks,” Othinus said, grinning. She nudged Touma’s shoulder. He was off to the side, staring at the wall.

“W-what? Oh, yeah, sure, thank you,” he said, fighting the urge to roll his eyes. He was being complimented for something he didn’t even do. Was he going to spend his entire high school going with the ruse?

He didn't want to, but getting a look at Othinus’ legs under her short skirt was enough to make him reconsider. She spoke with the other students, mostly girls, who looked at her in admiration.

“I didn't know she could talk,” Iida said. “I assumed she was merely a vehicle, and you the driver holding the wheel.”

That's a weird way to put it.

“Hey,” Touma said, hooking an arm over Deku's shoulder and introducing him to Iida. Ochako, after she finished speaking to Othinus, went over to them and stood beside Iida.

“You're the plain guy!” Ochako said. “You put up a good fight against Kamijou-san and Othinus-san.” She began gesticulating what he did, doing punches and swings and making funny sounds. “And then you almost got her too!”

“Uh.” Deku flustered from the way she spoke about him. “N-not like I won the exam or anything…”

“Join the club,” Iida said, turning to Touma and Othinus. “None of us would've if Ochako hadn't been hidden from Othinus-san's eye. Or Kamijou-san's, for that matter.”

“Please,” Touma said. “Call me Touma.”

“If you insist. Then call me Tenya,” Iida said.

“And me Ochako!” his companion added with a cheerful smile. “Nice to meet you, Deku!”

“W-wait call me Izuku instead,” Deku insisted. Not that anyone listened to him. The door opened, once more, and a familiar figure stood on the hallway before the classroom.

“Ah,” Touma said, looking at the man Othinus healed. His bloodied suit was replaced with black clothes and a white scarf. “Aizawa-san.”

OoO

Aizawa internally sighed in relief.

Maybe because of his injuries, or because the time they interacted was brief in addition to Touma being inebriated, but Aizawa was fortunate enough not to have either Touma or his projection Othinus recognize him as the businessman at the counter in the bar they were in.

It had been two weeks wince the battle with Cat Burglar. Two weeks since she massacred the prisoners of Musutafu jail. Two weeks since Touma and Othinus healed him completely.

“It's like you weren't even hurt,” Shujenzi Chiyo, Recovery Girl, had said, a day after the attack. According to her, whatever method Othinus used to heal Aizawa was on a higher level than even Recovery Girl's. Even old scars from ancient battles were gone. Aizawa was literally physically at the prime of his life.

And it was all thanks to two people he was spying on. He felt shame investigating good students. He promised never to do it again. He needed to learn to trust them.

Consequently, due to Touma's power (Othinus) and his personality (calm) giving the impression of someone who knew their strength and when to use it, Aizawa decided to treat him, and by extension his projection, like actual adults.

“Touma-san, Othinus-san,” Aizawa said, greeting them. “Good morning.” The familiar way of speaking to each other was noted by some students, but before they could ask how their teacher knew the pair Aizawa turned to the class and introduced himself. “I'm your homeroom teacher. Aizawa Shota. Pleased to meet you.” He went behind his desk, took a duffel bag underneath, placed it on top of the table, unzipped it and pulled out a pair of U.A. standard P.E. uniforms. He called the class by name, handing them to each student, including Touma's projection Othinus. Their situation was quite unique, Aizawa noted. Two for the price of one.

The P.E. uniforms were blue, with the letters U.A. designed on the shirt colored red to contrast the blue color. “Quickly now. Change into your gym clothes and head out back.”

After Aizawa waited for them to change they left the building and he led them through the vast land U.A. called its property to a tracking field where he would test them. He caught Touma's curious stare and Othinus’ bored face. Well, almost all of them.

Bright rays of light from the sun greeted his eyes. Aizawa frowned and covered his face. The students all stood to one side, eyes on him.

“We'll be having a quirk assessment test,” Aizawa said, yawned, and covered his mouth. He hadn't slept properly due to midnight activities including investigating the Cat Burglar's latest attacks. Not a night went by without blood on the streets. More and more gangs went after her, and she killed them all with impunity. Aizawa never saw such violence since the dark ages when chaos ruled the world before All Might rose to fame and restored order.

He had a bad feeling about the Cat Burglar, and believed the clash between her and All Might was nearing. If these kids went after her they'd be dead or at least beaten to bloody pulps like him. Except for maybe Othinus and Touma. For some reason he thought they'd put up more of a fight against the self proclaimed vigilante.

“A test of our quirks?” the boy student Midoriya Izuku asked, brining Aizawa back to the present. Based on intelligence from his ally who continued monitoring Touma's coterie, Izuku had become a part of it. Just like Touma, there wasn't much of a record on his companions either. They were all unknowns. Just who are they?

“Yes,” Aizawa said. “Get ready.” Another student, the girl Uraraka Ochako was going to speak next Aizawa increased his voice and added, “Real life doesn't have ceremonies or counselor meetings.” He assumed that was what she was going to bring up and dismissed it entirely.

“Last week I was attacked and beaten unconscious by a villain named Cat Burglar.” Murmurs increased among the students. “It was not pretty. She caught me off guard and repeatedly slammed my body like a doll against a car. I caught a glimpse of her face. She was bored and gave the impression I was wasting her time. You've all seen the news. The increasing violence and deaths in Japan due to her. The fight lasted all of one minute. It's not like in cartoons that take two to three episodes to finish. Fights in real life need only seconds for someone to gain the upperhand and incapacitate their enemies. I was lucky she didn't kill me. But we can't always rely on luck. Now prepare for the tests.”

He didn't bother telling them he was going to expel them. He wasn't as interested in the tests so much as he was in talking to Touma.

He extracted a tablet from a black backpack beside his foot. He had brought it with him everywhere he went now. The tablet possessed an app connected to the school system. “Touma, how far could you throw a softball in middle school?”

“Don't remember.” The blaise comment would have been reprimanded if it came from anyone else, but given this was the man who saved him he ignored it.

Aizawa threw him a softball, which he caught. “Use your quirk.” He passed it to Othinus, who flapped her wings. He pointed at a patch of dirt with a circle drawn for softball pitch. The two stepped inside it, laughing as they bumped shoulders due to the small space of the circle.

“You do realise what it is I am capable of,” Othinus said. Aizawa shrugged. The softball was soaked in white light from her palm, which remained when she lazily threw it in the air. It then burst into the sky. Aizawa whistled when he saw the gauge climb. It didn't stop.

“Where did it go?” he asked.

“The stratosphere,” Othinus said, putting her hands behind her head. Beside her Touma rolled his eyes and muttered, ‘show-off.’ Behind them the other students gasped in shock and surprise. Aizawa nodded. He didn't bother showing the final score to the rest of the class. It was stuck between 33,000 feet and 32,999.

While the other students started the softball throw test, Aizawa was off thinking about the Cat Burglar. He wasn't inexperienced to situations regarding life or death, but it was a first to battle someone who didn't even put an effort in bringing him to his knees.

Dangerous. She made him taste his own medicine by ignoring his quirk, which usually humbled others, and made him taste defeat with every slam of his body against the vehicle.

The tests were done in short order. Unsurprisingly, Othinus, and indirectly Touma, who let his projection quirk do all the work, scored the highest in every test. Except for the ball throw. Surprisingly Uraraka scored higher with an infinity.

Aizawa didn't pay attention much and was able to witness Izuku overextend his quirk and blow up his own arm in an explosion of gore. Aizawa was slightly worried, but then calmed down when Othinus snapped her fingers and enveloped Izuku's body in a soft glow hue and fixed him back up to before he was wounded.

Perfect healing, Chiyo said. Aizawa admired Othinus’ abilities. Even if she wasn't as strong as All Might, she had a lot more application of her quirk, or, considering she was the quirk, her unique state of existence.

He bore witness to it a few more times. Izuku recklessly tore his body apart with reckless abandon and abused his friendship with Touma and Othinus to heal him over and over again. What was first a horrible scene became a nuisance to the rest of his classmates due to Izuku getting his blood everywhere.

Aizawa would normally be against this kind of power usage, but Othinus was there, and her healing wasn't normal. It was perfect. There was nothing to worry about.

When the practice was over, he dismissed them and had them return to their classroom.

“Touma, Othinus, you two stay behind.” After everyone left, the two followed him to a corner of a building. A blond, tall figure leaned his back on the building and nodded to all three. Despite wearing a suit, All Might wasn't able to hide his muscles.

“Touma, Othinus,” he said, greeting them. He wasn't smiling. Last night he was a minute too late to stopping Othinus from killing over ten people, and he was the first to the scene.

“I have a favour to ask you,” All Might said. “It took me all week to decide. And I was hesitant in revealing my secret, but my resolve pulled through. Now more than ever after this great evil, Cat Burglar, has appeared with her senseless act of violence.”

Touma raised a brow. “All Might sir, are you sick?”

And so All Might explained how it all came to be, much to Aizawa's grimace, Othinus’ distaste with a click of a tongue, and Touma’s regret and silent groan. After two hours and a detailed explanation of another villain, All for One, Touma finally asked him to stop.

“Othinus,” he said without even looking at his partner. “Can you fix him?”

“I can return him to his peak,” Othinus said. She snapped her fingers, creating blinding light. When it receded, All Might laughed.

“There's no pain!” he said. “I'm at the height of my power!”

“That's what I said,” Othinus complained. “Touma, can we leave now?”

Touma observed All Might, jerked his head in a nod, and made a run for it. Othinus flapped her wings and flew behind him.

Aizawa too, attempted to escape, but All Might caught his shoulder with a large arm and made him sigh.

“Come, Eraserhead, it is time to celebrate!”

OoO

Time passed. Hours blurred. Touma was incredibly bored by high school. He wished he wasn't even here, but he didn't want to disappoint Othinus. That, and every night she ‘made up for it’, and the two enjoyed a new form of ritualistic pleasure.

Or foreplay.

It still didn't remove the boredom.

That was, until Foundational Heroics that is.

All Might came through the door. “Greetings, students.” All Might was unusually chirpy. More than normal, Touma noted, as he stared at the taller man. He’s so stereotypically American.

“I might not have healed him,” Othinus told him during their lunch break. When Touma looked at her with worry, she extrapolated. She didn’t really understand what was wrong with All Might, so instead she simply fixed what was broken in his muscular body and then ensured that no matter what happened to him, he would return, good as new, three days later.

“Like Jesus?” Touma asked. Othinus might not realize it, but she effectively made All Might a Saint, a human blessed with magic that could draw out the blessings of the Catholic God.

“Yes, like the Lamb of God,” Othinus said with a roll of her cat-like green eye. She disliked it when he mentioned deities, religious or mythological figures other than her.

“You made All Might into Jesus? What about his aging?”

“He shall still age regularly, but when he is withering in his twilight years and then finally releasing his grip on the mortal realm, my blessing shall activate upon his body and return him to his physical peak. He is now effectively immortal. He shall protect this world even after we are gone.”

And just like that, she ruined the mood. Touma didn’t want to return to their old world, as irresponsible as that may seem. He wanted to stay in this one. But that was only half of him speaking. It wouldn’t be so bad. Othinus would just fix the world. He should ask her to obtain the coordinates of this universe, and when or if they’ve returned to their original universe, obtain the coordinates from that one too. That way they can traverse as they please. Who knows. He might take up multiversal travel with his girlfriend. He knew she wouldn’t let him die, and that they had an eternity together to explore every nook and cranny of the cosmos.

“Foundation Heroics!” Touma tuned out the rest of All Might’s words. There was something about building up or something. All Might pulled out a remote or a smartphone, Touma wasn’t sure, and had to narrow his eyes to concentrate, but then the large gasps from the students around him made him turn to the wall at the far end of the classroom. It shifted into a series of shelves containing cases of costumes designed for each student’s requests.

All the cases were enveloped in light and with a ‘come here’ motion of her hand, Othinus pulled all the cases to their respective owners. Touma’s case was smaller than others. For good reason. It was unwrapped with gold glitters, revealing a navy blue suit and burgundy tie, and an expensive gold watch. Touma’s suit was designed to give the image of an important man whose time was being wasted fighting those people beneath him, and the watch would compliment the arrogant blue blood attitude he was going to enact. That was what Othinus explained, and he vehemently attempted to change his costume. He failed.

Touma groaned.

Beside him seated on a cloud chair Othinus smiled. Her elbows were propped on the cloud armrest, and she held her cheeks in her hands. She too was staring at the class in boredom, and it never went away even after All Might entered. But the costume, and the idea of Touma wearing it, made her eye glimmer in excitement.

When All Might told them to change and go to Ground Beta, wherever that was, Othinus caught Touma’s wrist and dragged him out of the classroom, costume flying behind them, and her cloud dispersing into mist behind the classroom, and went up the stairs to the rooftop of the building. They might have been a little playful while she helped him change, but they couldn’t waste too much time. After they were done, their tongues parting with a trail of saliva Othinus wiped with the back of her hand, she created a stairway from the ledge of the rooftop to the bottom of the ground. When he took a step, the steps of cloud did the rest. It functioned like an escalator, saving Touma some much needed energy. Othinus floated beside him, holding his right hand and squeezing it gently.

Surprisingly, they were the first to arrive.

“Ah.” Broken buildings surrounded him. He didn’t realize where the cloud stairway that dispersed behind him led to, too focused on the softness of Othinus’ hand to even notice. “This is where we fought at the entrance exam, right?”

“Fought is such a strong word,” Othinus said, looking at her nails. “More like teach the mortals their place.” Despite her condescending words there was no malice in her tone. She spoke less like braggart rubbing it in weaker people’s faces, and more like a person observing the insignificance of an ant.

“But I’m a mortal though,” Touma said with a smile. Othinus returned it, both of them blushing, as she poked his chest and asked, ‘are you now?’

“Kids and their youth!” All Might said, striking a pose as he looked at the sky. “How I long for the days of my own.” Touma imagined a younger All Might. He didn’t really pay attention to what All Might said earlier either. He must be one of the popular kids, even then.

Not that different from Othinus in the days of old with the Germanic Peoples who worshipped her. Out of the three of them Touma was the only one who wasn’t popular at all.

The students arrived one by one, with costumes as unique as the colors of the rainbow. When the class was complete, All Might explained the events that were to take place. It would be an indoor battle training. Villain clean-up was usually in the open, but statistically it was better in-doors. The smartest villains commit crimes out of sight. Kidnappings, break-ins, black market…

Huh. They remind him of Academy City. The twisted evil realm known as his own made Touma’s heart long for it. Guess there’s no helping the part of him that wants to go back.

The training worked like this. The class would be split into two groups. Heroes and villains. Villains will guard a faux bomb, and heroes will stop them. For a villain to win, they simply prevent the hero from touching the bomb until the assigned time limit ran out, or if they catch the heroes. For the hero to win, they just need to touch the bomb before then, or presumably after they incapacitate the villains. Presumably because All Might didn’t mention it, but logically the bomb would be easily taken if there was no one to oppose the heroes.

All Might then took out a lottery box behind him and explained he was going to form teams by pulling out names. There would be a problem, Touma noted, and Iida voiced. The number of students was uneven. That, and Iida mumbled no one wanted to chance the misfortune of battling Touma and Othinus.

“Touma and Othinus function as one team,” All Might finally said to disquell the growing noise of hot potato, with each group voicing their hope of avoiding a battle with Touma and Othinus. “They will instead be in the unique situation of battling two groups, four people, who would volunteer. If no one does, they immediately pass.”

It might seem like favoritism, but it was actually a small mercy from All Might. Touma doubted he could take on anyone here at all. Even the invisible girl could probably beat him. But Othinus was a beast who achieved the peak of magic and became the apex predator of the hierarchy of magicians. She would win, and it won’t be pretty.

Like a cat who caught a rat, she would play with her food.

“I’d like to volunteer,” a brave soul said, stepping forward. Touma looked him up and down. His hair was red and white, divided evenly down the center of his head. He wore a white shirt, pants and boots, with ice covering the left side of his body. Was that his power or his costume? The helmet he held in his left hand indicated the latter.

“Todoroki, is it?” Touma raised a brow. “You could take back your words right now, and I’ll pretend I didn’t hear them.”

For his sake as much as anyone else’s. Getting Othinus fired up will get her opponents beaten up.

“You’re such a smug piece of shit!”

Kacchan? He was getting angry at Touma? Touma thought they were getting along as friends! Why? Antagonizing Touma would irritate his girlfriend. Othinus, true to form, scowled at Kacchan, who wore a black tank top, gauntlets fashioned like grenades, green belt holding up his baggy pants, white knee-guards, and black boots with orange soles.

“Kaccha, what’s wrong?” Touma asked, leaning forward in worry. “Are you sick? Do we need to get you to the nurse’s office?” Surely Kacchan was aware of Othinus’ power, and unlike Todoroki Shoto, saw it up close and personal.

For some reason his words only served to further infuriate Kacchan. Touma was confused. What was wrong with him?

“I too, shall volunteer,” a student with an honest-to-God bird head said. His head was literally a bird’s, either a crow’s or a raven’s. His body was covered in a black robe, stopping short of his shin, revealing knee-high black boots. He reminded Touma of the humanoid cat creature police officer who spoke to him that one time, asking him if Othinus was his quirk, and then thanking him another time, after Othinus healed him from the damages the Cat Burglar committed at the police station.

“Why?” Touma asked.

“Our abilities are similar,” the bird head said. Tokoyami Fumikage! That was his name. Touma closed his eyes, nodded, and smiled smugly at recalling his classmate’s identity. When he opened them, for some reason Fumikage’s eyes were all fired up. What did he say, again? They had similar superpowers?

‘You have a nigh-omnipotent god masquerading as your powers too?’ or ‘So you too are a wielder of Imagine Breaker.’ Touma wanted to state, but stopped himself. He sighed, buried his hands in his pocket and gazed to the rest of the students. “Anybody else?”

They mistook it as a challenge. As the brave underdog heroes they are, they took it to task to answer the villain known as Kamijou Touma and his smug, smug voice of arrogance that taunted them in their sleep, and his look of apathy so soulless it was practically oozing contempt.

At least that was what he assumed they were seeing. It all made sense now. In this class, Touma was the wicked, yet insufferably strong asshole.

And he had to spend three years at this!?

He just wanted to sleep, preferably with his girlfriend, somewhere peaceful and where they could be alone.

Instead he was stuck here. With kids.

“I, Yaoyorozu Momo shall challenge you!” A beautiful girl that made Touma want to ask her age, ‘are you really fifteen?’ raised her hand. Her long black hair was tied into a spiky ponytail behind her. She too, learned the beauty of a spiky hairstyle, it seemed. A single bang hanged on the right side of her face. Her onyx eyes resembled those of a cat’s, reminding him of Othinus’ own. She wore a sleeveless crimson leotard, with silver lines at the side, two gold utility belts, and red boots.

Her costume was so revealing. He wondered if she was related to Othinus.

“Very well!” All Might said with a hearty laugh. “Team Todoroki will be the villains. They may start inside the building. They have five minutes to come up with a strategy, and then the heroes can start as well! I and the rest of the class will be observing from a control room through surveillance cameras scattered around the building!”

And so the stupid game of the underdogs fighting against Touma, who wanted no part of this, and Othinus, who was pissed at the insignificant humans who dared challenge her might, began.

OoO

“Was that wise?” Momo asked her teammate, Shoto, with Fumikage and Katsuki behind them. They passed the hallway, up the stairs, into a room with a fake bomb against the wall at the back of the room. Pillars supported the ceilings. Cracks from the ceilings, walls and floors ruined the otherwise clean, white room.

“People assume they’re strong because no one put up a fight,” Shoto said. “I saw videos of what took place during the entrance exam, but it was painfully obvious that their enemies, inexperienced teens, were too young to understand the concept of coordination.”

“Hey, are you picking a fight!?” Katsuki asked, clenching his fist. Shoto ignored him.

“I don’t like his smug look,” Fumikage said, leaning his back on one of the pillars. “His attitude was born of arrogance from obtaining the superpower lottery at such a young age.”

“That quirk of his thinks she can boss me around,” Katsuki snarled. “I’ll show her who’s boss after I beat her boyfriend black and blue!”

“Boyfriend?” Momo tilted her head. “What do you mean?” All three boys stared at her. She blinked. “What?”

“They’re obviously together,” Fumikage said. “It is quite a strange relationship, given she is his quirk, but if she can truly think on her own they might as well be two seperate people. Todoroki, what is your plan in dealing with them?”

“You three can attempt to beat Touma on your own. I shall have a duel with this ‘projection’ of his called Othinus.” They discussed a battle plan, which involved all three complaining at how bad his strategy was, and accomplished nothing. When five minutes were up, they prepared for what they imagined would be Touma and Othinus walking like the smug assholes they are and mocking them for being weak every step of the way.

Instead, white mist condensed into the room. And then took shape. First, that of small white rabbits with glowing red eyes. One progressively grew large and larger, its body becoming more human and muscular, until its bunny ears bent against the ceiling. White wisps of mist made up its fur. It tilted its head, raised a ridiculously muscular arm, clenched its fist, and threw a punch.

OoO

“How many powers does he have!?” One of the many students complained from the control room. “It just isn’t fair!”

No, All Might thought, observing from one camera Touma and Othinus who loitered at the entrance to the building, and from another in the bomb room Shota, Momo, Fumikage and Katsuki fighting like their lives were on the line against cloud constructs taking the shape of animals.

Quirks, were at their core, illogical. They didn’t make any sense. There was an internal structure to each quirk, true, but they were still by their very existence a defiance to the laws of physics.

All Might theorized that one day a quirk akin to All for One and One for All would emerge. It was not limited to a single individual, and grew stronger with time. One for All exponentially enhanced the strength, speed and durability of every user it was passed onto, and All for One grew stronger with each power it stole.

Touma’s ability was similar, yet different. Under All Might’s theory, his quirk grew with him since he was a baby. She was a fabrication of the mind realized, yet unchained by the laws of this world. She was basically an alien from another realm, a realm of imagination. And through Touma, she gained access to the physical world. She wasn’t distorting this world’s reality so much as she brought her own.

He was a bridge, and her the visitor.

All Might wondered if Touma could summon more creatures like her, and almost shivered at the sheer, limitless potential of his superpowers.

‘Your luck ran out, All for One.’ He recalled another ‘rising star’ that reminded him of his arch-nemesis. ‘You too, Cat Burglar.’ And every villain from here on out. Touma’s powers need simply to be honed, and he and his partner would do the rest themselves.

In addition to those two, All Might’s protege Midoriya Izuku inherited One for All, and All Might himself was healed back to his prime. When the Cat Burglar would strike next, he would be ready.

OoO

Misaka Mikoto was a unique existence.

She was the #3 level 5 esper of Academy City.

She was also a magical creature born to life from her creator, Othinus’ divine will.

She remembered all her time up to her battle with Gremlin in Tokyo and Sargasso Bay. Yet she didn’t possess any kind of contempt for Othinus. In fact, she worshipped her creator. Yet she still possessed her feelings from the original Mikoto.

The Mikoto that was created using Othinus’ magic, in other words the ‘magical Mikoto’ and boy did that make her want to vomit, was a clone of the original.

Clones typically held existential crisis about who they truly are, or were altered to the point their emotions grew numb.

Mikoto’s emotions weren’t numbed. In fact, she still had feelings for Touma. She also knew who she was. She was the Mikoto Misaki who followed Othinus. If she could put it in an equation, then it would be like this.

Mikoto Misaki + Othinus’ creation = Magical Mikoto.

She was such a genius!

Right now she was taking a stroll with her fellow creation, a devilishly handsome servant named Hel, who offered to carry her grocery bags she bought from the supermarket.

They were also there to punish some peeping tom’s.

And so they walked, Mikoto inquiring about Hel’s own memories, and the much more older familiar humoring her with a gentle smile as he answered her every request. He had also used his magic upon them. Not psychic powers imitating magic or vice-versa, and not magic like those used by magicians from her world, but magic borne from the myths of old.

They weren’t really invisible, he explained, so much as the wind created a barrier between themselves and that of the rest of the world, blinding the world to their very existence. They approached the back of a car, with two unsuspecting brothers inside it.

OoO

The knife brothers observed her for days straight. After Bloodhound, the quirk user with the ability to track people down solely on a picture of them, gave the knife brothers her address, they watched. In that week, they found her entering the hotel in her civilian clothing during the day, and emerge from the rooftop in her costume during the night.

She was slender, small, wore an eyepatch and had black hair. Probably dyed, given her foreign features and a strand of blonde hair witnesses civilians and police officers both claimed they've seen from earlier papers. Sometimes she was accompanied by a sinfully handsome man they assume was either her lover or her butler.

They learned her name by bribing the clerk behind the counter of the lobby. Not directly, of course. They hired someone else to do it. If ever the Cat Burglar became aware of their existence they were they were the next to die, their bodies cut in half and taken as photos for the news. Another unfortunate casualty of her violent crusade.

They learned her name. As foreign as they come. Frigg Gallows.

They were inside another stolen vehicle. They killed the owner and dumped his body in a river between Musutafu and Tokyo.

The older knife brother called his employer. “We’ve got her name, boss. And I’m honestly not sure if you still want us to kill her.” It was unprofessional to question the job, but sometimes they spoke their mind and their boss praised them for it. “This Cat Girl-”

“Cat Burglar,” his annoying younger brother corrected him with a stupid grin.

The older brother rolled his eyes. “Cat Burglar, she’s helping us lots by being a distraction. If the heroes focus on her, then they won’t have time for us, right?”

“True,” their boss said. “I’ll consider inviting her into our group, but she might react violently and attempt to kill us instead. That would be a waste of a talent. Very well. I’m not normally this flexible with my employees, but I’ve known you two long enough to trust you to be discreet. Change of plans. See if you can invite her into our little clique. Through an intermediary, of course. No need to senselessly risk your life. But from here on out your jobs are done, understood?”

“Understood,” the older brother said with a sigh. He wasn’t really sure they could’ve taken her out anyway.

“Understood,” the younger brother said in an airy voice, hiding his disappointment at missing out on an opportunity to fight a strong opponent.

“Understood,” a gentlemanly voice said, from outside their window.

“Huh?” The older brother looked to his younger brother’s window and saw a sinfully handsome man giving a carefree smile outside it, carrying grocery bags with one hand.

The younger brother saw through his older brother’s window a young girl with brown raising her eyebrow. Electricity crackled and sparked from her hair.

Before either brothers could react, the man threw his free hand through the window, shattering it into a million pieces, and he grabbed the younger brother’s neck. He lifted the younger brother up in the air, towards the ceiling, and with a thud, released his hold. The younger brother’s head fell on the glove compartment. Blood dripped from the ceiling and trickled down his skin.

At the same time, the girl discharged a spear of electricity through the door, soaking the vehicle in electricity and frying the electronics within. But what was worse was the window. It exploded from the heat and speed of the strike. When her electricity made contact with the man, he screamed, convulsed and stopped moving.

“Oh my,” Hel said, covering his mouth and pretending to worry. “You didn’t kill him, did you?”

Mikoto looked at the blood from the head of the younger brother and looked at Hel in disapprovement. “What about you?”

“I would never disobey our master,” Hel said with a solemn shake of his head. Mikoto sighed in relief. She was a little worried about his personality, given who he was based on, but he was alright.

“Relax. I used something like lightning when I fried the car and broke the window, but weakened it to that of a taser when I hit the man.” A pedestrian walked around her. “So they can’t see us?”

“Only to an extent,” Hel warned her with a wag of his finger. He extracted the smartphone from the older brother, frowned, and turned to Mikoto. “You fried his phone.”

She laughed nervously. “Whoops?” She steeled herself. The man she was with was slightly more violent than her. A simple punch would have sufficed in incapacitating their targets, but he went all the way in making the target bleed. Unless Othinus willed it, she didn’t want to associate much with people like him.

Hel sighed. “What’s done is done. Regardless, we should move the evidence. Lady Othinus can interrogate them later. For now, I shall move the two in the back of the car and you shall drive them into the hotel. Do not worry about it being fried. I have used my magic to fix the vehicle.”

“Which hotel?”

“The one in Musutafu, obviously. Sir Touma is unaware of his beloved’s extracurricular activities.” Hel extracted the two people from the front of the cars, opened the doors to the back and threw with as much care as someone would throw a pillow across the bed. He then sat on the front passenger seat, with Mikoto on the driver’s seat, who buckled up her seatbelt, held the gearshift, the steering wheel, and started the car. Her foot moved to the gas pedal when the glove compartment vibrated. Hel opened the glove compartment and pulled out a phone.

“Another burner phone?” he asked. He checked the screen, found a caller, and answered it. “Sir, are you perhaps a relative of these two? They’ve been in an accident, I’m afraid. Fear not, for a Good Samaritan such as I shall take them to the hospital myself and pay for their hospital bills.” Hel attempted for a worried and thoughtful human act. Mikoto heard a groan. From the rearview mirror one of the two men was gaining consciousness.

“Cut the bullshit,” the unknown caller said. “What did you do to them? Who are you? And where the hell is the car?” Mikoto assumed there was someone spying on the car from afar. When Hel enclosed the car in his invisible wind, it should’ve cut even the signal from the phone. He must be capable of exempting a select target from his magic. But that confused Mikoto. She was sure neither of them were even aware there was an extra burner phone. How could he make it exempt from his invisible wind?

Magic. It was so illogical.

“We are concerned citizens worried for the well-beings of others,” Hel said. “And how dare you imply we would so much as lay a finger on these innocent looking men.” There was movement from the backseat. Mikoto and Hel both focused on the rearview mirror. The man she shocked woke with a snarl, one hand clenched around a knife made of blue fire, and attempted to stab Hel. With a lazy slap from the back of his hand the man’s blue fire knife was flung from his hand, which was bent back until his knuckle touched his wrist. Hel tapped his nose, shattering it, and then caught his neck, choking him unconscious.

“I would never hurt a fly,” Hel said with conviction. From his hand the man struggled and scratched at his skin. Hel squeezed. The man lost consciousness, and Hel threw him back in his seat.

“Fuck you,” the caller said.

“Gimme that,” Mikoto said. Hel rolled his eyes and passed her the phone. “Mr. boss man, whoever you are, look, we don’t care, okay? We just want to know why you’re stalking our boss.”

“Boss? So the Cat Burglar has underlings? Who are you people?”

“Yes, she has underlings. Listen, can we negotiate? We’re not really interested in fighting. We just want to understand why they were spying on our boss, okay? And if you give us useful information we might even let them free.”

“And what makes you think I care?”

“We don’t,” Mikoto said. “And you can hang up now. But remember this is the only time you had a chance at negotiating. Now our boss might throw a temper tantrum and increase the number of her victims. Goodbye.” She disconnected the call. Waited five minutes. The phone ringed. Mikoto answered it.

“I’ll give a time and a place. No more than two of you. If I even think there’s another person there I’m gone.”

“You or your middleman? Not I care, but sure. Just text me the area and we’re there.” Mikoto hanged up, once more, and received a text not a minute later. “How many people can you put in your invisible wind, Hel?”

“Ranging from myself to everyone whose face I’ve seen.”

“Wonderful. Let’s go call the others.”

“Lady Othinus?” His voice was tinged with disapproval.

“No, silly. The other level 5’s. Although we only need one…” Misaki was so going to ask her something in exchange for this. Mikoto dropped the phone on the seat between her legs and sighed. They were off to a busy day.


End file.
